It’s now illegal to stand on narrow medians on some busy roads in Bangor.
Bangor city councilors on Monday approved adding a line to the city’s loitering ordinance that outlaws standing around, either alone or with others, on road medians less than 6 feet wide on in “high-volume or high-speed traffic areas.”
The new rule, which passed in a 5-2 vote, applies to certain city-owned roads, most of which the Maine Department of Transportation have designated as high crash locations. The roughly 10 medians the new rule applies to can be found on Hogan Road, Stillwater Avenue, Odlin Road, Griffin Road and Godfrey Boulevard.
The rule does not apply to medians on privately-owned land or state and interstate roads and highways.
Bangor Police Chief Mark Hathaway said he believes officers will be able to enforce the new rule by speaking with people and directing them to move to a safer location. However, “in extreme circumstances,” officers could issue a civil penalty, which carries a fine of between $100 to $2,500.
Though the city drafted the added language to “protect both those on the medians and the drivers and passengers in vehicles passing by,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine argued the law is unconstitutional and violates the free speech of people who stand on road medians in the city.
Some residents objected to the rule over concerns the law would unfairly target people who are unhoused who panhandle on medians around Bangor.
Bangor resident Katie Coe spoke against the proposal because she believes it will lead to more interactions between police and the city’s unhoused and disenfranchised residents.
Jason Hunt, who lived in Portland before moving to Bangor, reminded councilors of a similar median ban Portland approved a decade ago, then had to rescind and pay a hefty fine after the ACLU challenged the law and it was deemed unconstitutional.
“I want you to consider that,” Hunt said during a June 17 meeting of the City Council’s government operations committee. “As a taxpayer, I would not be happy if the city made a choice that had to get funded in that way.”
Councilors Dina Yacoubagha and Joseph Leonard were the only councilors who voted against the rule. Both argued the language needed to be revisited, as it discriminated against people who are unhoused.
While the city knows the roads identified in the rule have seen many vehicle crashes, Leonard asked the city to research whether people standing on medians were a factor in those incidents. He also expressed concerns the language wouldn’t stand up to legal challenges.
David Szewczyk, Bangor’s city solicitor, believes the rule doesn’t violate the public’s First Amendment rights because it’s “narrow in scope” by only prohibiting loitering on a small number of medians rather than being a blanket ban.
Cara Pelletier, city council chair, supported the rule because she believes the wording is “sufficiently narrow” to stand up to legal challenges and is confident police will enforce the rule by asking people to move to another location, which doesn’t squander their freedom of speech.
“This, to me, isn’t about limiting free speech,” Pelletier said. “It’s about being proactive and creating safer places in Bangor for both pedestrians and drivers. I think any time cars collide, people shouldn’t be in the middle of it.”
Bangor’s original loitering law prevented people from obstructing both vehicle and pedestrian traffic on a public street, highway, sidewalk or any other public place or building.
