DOVER, DE- A controversial pedestrian safety ordinance was voted out of Committee Tuesday following hours of heated debate at Dover City Hall, where dozens of neighbors voiced their opinions. Supporters say the measure is necessary to protect pedestrians and drivers, while opponents argue it punishes the city's most vulnerable residents instead of connecting them to resources.
The proposal would restrict pedestrians from approaching moving vehicles except when legally crossing and prohibit people from standing on medians for longer than two light cycles. Pedestrians who violate the rules, as well as drivers who stop or slow in traffic to engage with them, would face penalties: a first-time written warning, a $15 fine for a second offense, and a $50 fine for a third offense.
Velisa Scott, a critic of the ordinance, said it would do little to solve the underlying problem and that punishing people with fines is not the right approach.
"The ordinance is not going to do anything. It's basically a dead end to a situation that is not going to go anywhere because of the fines that they're going to implement. If they're homeless, they have no money. They're panhandling for money to get food and stuff. How are they going to pay fines?"
Others, like David Greene, who is part of the homeless community, said the city should focus on connecting people to resources rather than punishing them, which is why he and many others in similar situations end up in the medians in the first place.
"There are people out here. Me, myself, I've been sitting here trying to get into housing. I'm trying to go to school. I'm trying to get a car, get a job, and not having the resources to be able to help me attain those goals is just setting me back further and further, especially with me having a child on the way."
Supporters, including Eric Czerwinski, argue the measure is needed to tackle a safety problem that has worsened over the past few years.
"I'm behind the ordinance. People standing in the median on a level that wasn't designed to have somebody on is extremely dangerous. So, you know, we're talking about safety. We're not talking about homelessness and that sort of thing."
Czerwinski said the measure is essential to give authorities the tools to enforce safety effectively.
"It's not about punishing. It's about enforcement. Right now, the police can't legally require someone to leave the median. There's no local ordinance to enforce that. So by creating a fine that gives them the ability to actually remove people from the medians, that's all."
However, critics like Scott pushed back, saying more outreach — not fines — is needed.
"I think people should have more compassion. We need more outreach programs to be able to help these people who are out here."
Czerwinski countered, saying compassion also means keeping people safe.
"If you're talking about compassion for people, you don't want people in the median because it's a danger to them. You've got a small beveled surface that's four feet wide. And you literally got that difference between like a little space between that and people doing 40, 50, 60 miles an hour on the road, you know, and it's just unsafe."
The Committee also considered a pilot program adding "no standing or stopping" signs on medians to test their impact before imposing fines, but ultimately struck the proposal down.
The ordinance, now released from Committee, is scheduled for a first reading in early December.