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Friday, July 11, 2008
Ind. Law - "Artist asks Valparaiso board to define vendor policy"
We've reported on the development of golf cart ordinances and wind farm ordinances, as well as local efforts at governing outdoor wood-fired boilers.* Today it is artists working on street corners. James D. Wolf Jr. writes today in the Gary Post-Tribune:
VALPARAISO -- A man trying to sell his paintings on the southeast corner of Lincolnway and Franklin Street for a week has the city trying to define what it will allow for outdoor vendors._______________Kelly Zollman, who moved to Valparaiso from Oregon, asked the Board of Works and Safety on Thursday what he needs to sell his paintings against the bare wall of the commercial building.
"I'm not opposed to people selling paintings on the sidewalk, but it has to be thought out," board member Chuck Williams said.
A hot dog vendor couldn't set up in front of a restaurant and the city needs to develop a policy to address such situations, he said.
Valparaiso had an ordinance regulating door-to-door sales and vending but, after recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings, stopped enforcing it, City Clerk Sharon Swihart said.
City attorney David Hollenbeck said it used to be that "commercial speech" was less protected than religious or political speech, such as having signs on one's lawn saying "Out of Iraq."
Despite the Supreme Court's rulings, "we still reserve the right to regulate time, place and manner," Hollenbeck said.
Until it decides on a policy, the city has asked Zollman to move his sales to the Farmer's Market at Lafayette Street and Indiana Avenue, which operates three times a week.
*Not to mention, adult bookstores.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 11, 2008 08:57 AM
Posted to Indiana Law