Springfield will study loitering ordinance

An anti-loitering ordinance may be in Springfield’s future.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140717/NEWS02/707179961

Published July 17, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Springfield will study loitering ordinance By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — An anti-loitering ordinance may be in Springfield’s future. The Select Board has sent a proposal to its ordinance subcommittee for study. The move comes before the board has formally received a petition from a Springfield woman who has been collecting signatures in recent weeks calling for a downtown ordinance. Kim Bombria was at the board meeting Monday night to discuss her concerns about downtown gang activity, which is the primary target of her petition. People loiter in the downtown area and harass or intimidate people, she said. Criticism has focused on the Woolson Block, which Bombria said houses gang members and drug dealers in its upper floors. One woman who works at the Jenny Wren Café in downtown Springfield said she had personally witnessed three drug deals Monday in front of the café, which is located in the Woolson Block. “These gangs are from New Jersey and they are smart and well funded,” said Joanna Estey, who warned that downtown Springfield would “lose all its businesses if the town doesn’t fight back.” Estey said the ordinance would be another tool for the Springfield Police Department to combat the drug and crime problem. Bombria said she would continue to collect signatures and present the petition to the Select Board at its meeting in August. “The entire town should not be victimized,” she said, noting that most of the illegal activity occurs at night. Town Manager Robert Forguites said after the meeting that he and Police Chief Douglas Johnston had talked about an anti-loitering ordinance for the downtown area even before Bombria started her petition last month. “Doug had come up with a draft. This was before she was starting her petition drive,” said Forguites, who said that Bombria did give the Select Board a copy of the wording of her petition. That wording, plus Johnston’s draft, was given to board members Stephanie Thompson and George McNaughton, who together with Forguites and Town Attorney Stephen Ankuda make up the town’s ordinance committee. Bombria said she based the wording of her petition on Chicago’s successful anti-loitering laws. McNaughton, a lawyer, said anti-loitering ordinances are difficult to write and enforce because they tend to be vague. Bombria said she had collected more than 900 signatures in support of the anti-loitering ordinance. She said she has also collected signatures from local children, since the issue affects them as well. “It’s more about them than anything,” she told the board. Bombria said her goal was to get 3,500 signatures. She has collected signatures on Main Street and at the Springfield Shopping Plaza, and plans to do the same at the Springfield Recycling Center. Select Board Chairman Kristi Morris warned Bombria and others that crafting an ordinance was a “slow process.”