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Ordinance would target roadside solicitors
Along Route 7 in Sterling on March 7, two figures stand in a watery mist kicked up by passing cars. A car stops, and a hand juts out and drops what appears to be change into one of the figures' buckets.
It's a common occurrence along this busy road -- and one a county supervisor hopes to stop.
“This invasion has to be responded to,” said Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling), who wants the county to pass an ordinance banning at certain locations the practice of people asking motorists for money.
Jammed with commuters flush with spare change, Route 7 between Sugarland Run and the Fairfax County line has increasingly become a popular stretch of roadway for charities, churches and flower salespeople to set up shop.
State law prohibits individuals from wandering into a highway unless they are crossing it. But it does not restrict them from standing in a median to solicit donations, make sales or pass out literature. To limit this, a law would have to be created at the county level, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Delgaudio's chief concern is that roadside fundraising is far too dangerous along Route 7.
Two spots where solicitors are regularly seen are Potomac View Road/Route 7 and Sterling Boulevard/Route 7, which, according to the Sheriff's Office, were among the county's 12 most accident-prone intersections in 2007, with Potomac View/Route 7 topping the list. Delgaudio said his proposal would apply only to those intersections on this list.
Safety aside, he also questions why some of the groups asking drivers for money are based outside Loudoun.
Standing in a parking lot along Potomac View Road Friday, Angela Jefferson, clad in a black dress stretching to her ankles, said she was from Albuquerque, N.M., but was collecting money for a homeless shelter in Richmond. She said she was with the New Life Church.
Jefferson, who admitted to once being homeless, said church members solicit money throughout the country. She said she travels daily from Richmond to this area, and has worked intersections in Loudoun and Arlington counties.
“We’re not causing any trouble,” she said, before trudging back to the intersection. “We’re just trying to help people.”
Cary Johnson, the pastor at the New Life Church in Sterling, said he didn't know the people asking motorists for money. “We don't do that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mark Scheyder, with the New Life Christian Church in Centreville, said his church has gotten numerous calls asking if their members were the ones standing at intersections. When he went to investigate, he was told by one of the solicitors that they were with a New Life church in Kentucky.
“They said donations are good here,” Scheyder said.
According to reports, police in other parts of the country, including Virginia, have cited members of the Tampa, Fla.-based Deeper Life Christian Church for soliciting motorists for money. The Web site for the Rick A. Ross Institute, which studies controversial religious groups, said the church has satellite ministries that go by the name New Life.
The Tampa church once was convicted of trafficking food stamps and dealing in stolen property, while its founder, Melvin Jefferson, has been accused of living an overly lavish lifestyle.
When a reporter returned to Potomac View Road to ask the church members about this, they were gone. Also, church leaders in Tampa did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
“They're not even helping people living here,” said Delgaudio, responding to the news. “But I'm just focused on the safety issue.”
He said his goal in the proposed ordinance is not to put these types of groups out of business. He just wants them to move to lesser-traveled -- and thus safer -- street corners.
“Yes, they will make less money,” he acknowledged. “But this is a clear example of public recklessness. These are accidents waiting to happen.”
Contact the reporter at jjacks@timespapers.com
...State law prohibits individuals from wandering into a highway unless they are crossing it. But it does not restrict them from standing in a median to solicit donations...
Well, if they are walking up and down the lines of traffic wouldn't that be wandering into the highway? Enforce the law we have. Putting law enforcement in full view a couple of times will send a clear message.
For once, Sup. Delgaudio has come up with something we can all support. Miracles never cease...
Posted by BTO
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You have to be careful of the 1st amendment protection to free speech. A law that bans fund raising and handing out of pamphlets would undoubtedly be protested costing Loudoun county tax dollars we don't have to defend it. Additionally you'd also be banning the fire and rescue from their fund raisers which often take place at these very same intersections.
If there were people being horribly injured on a regular basis at intersections, it would be a public health issue. At this point in time it is merrily a nuisance. When someone comes up to your door at an intersection, you look down at your radio and pretend that you are adjusting the station and you just didn't notice the person.
Posted by johnarlington
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