Daytona Beach considers panhandling zones

Aggressive panhandlers have become such a problem in Daytona Beach, city officials say they're driving people away.

Commissioners are now considering a law that would create anti-panhandling buffer zones.  Daytona Beach resident Jack Wade says aggressive panhandling is so bad, his elderly mother is now afraid.

Wade explains, "Every time my mother drive down a road- she locks the door!"

Attorney Michael Kahn was hired by the city to oversee the panhandling proposal.

Kahn told FOX 35, "There would be certain buffers around certain areas which individuals would be captive and more vulnerable."

Those vulnerable areas include bus stops, public restrooms, and ATMS. Panhandlers would have to stay at least 20 feet from those areas, and at least 100 feet away from schools and day cares.

Kahn says there's also a problem with panhandlers publicly relieving themselves in places popular with children and the elderly. He believes this ordinance is a public safety measure.

Kahn explains,  "It's regulating the possibilities of disease and even death with regards to those sorts of exposures."

Kahn says even with this ordinance, more than 97 percent of Daytona Beach would still be open to panhandlers. Another hearing on the ordinance is set for January 16.