Committee approves forwarding narrowed rights-of-way ordinance for phased downtown pilot

The ad hoc Right-of-Way Use Committee voted to forward a revised ordinance that narrows prior language to commercial corridors and allows a phased implementation that would make downtown effective immediately on the mayor’s signature and delay other commercial zones for six months.

Chair summarized the committee’s rationale, saying the updated draft “makes it explicit that you can't lie down on the sidewalk, on the trail, on the vehicular road bed, or on the bike lane in commercial corridors,” and argued the narrower approach responds to public concern that earlier countywide language was overly broad. The chair noted the original, broader ordinance had passed committee but failed at the full commission, prompting the more targeted draft.

The committee discussed legal and enforcement limits — staff emphasized the retained prohibition on obstructing ingress and egress — and instructed the manager's office to prepare a memorandum on services and implementation concurrent with the ordinance. The motion passed on a voice vote; members said downtown zones should take effect on the mayor’s signature and other commercial zones six months later. The committee did not record a named roll-call in the transcript.