Winter Park picks another free speech fight

A discussion over preserving free speech broke out during last Monday’s Winter Park City Commission meeting as commissioners mulled over how to deal with overbearing solicitors at the city’s farmers market.

A new ordinance came before commissioners that would have limited petitioners and solicitors to a set area within the farmers market.

City Attorney Larry Brown drafted the ordinance after recent complaints surfaced from residents and vendors about petitioners

“We started receiving complaints from our customers in a lot of different circumstances,” Parks and Recreation Director John Holland said. “We’ve got petitions standing in the gateways and standing in front of the vendors.”

“We certainly don’t want to create additional problems by trying to solve one problem. We want to make it easier for our customers … We don’t want to restrict any free speech.”

But City Commissioners took issue with the proposed language, believing it encroached on First Amendment rights. A vote was made to convert the public hearing into a non-action item, in hopes of learning more and finding a better solution.

"We're getting too Big Brother-y here, people," Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel said.

“I personally have no problems with people petitioning,” Mayor Ken Bradley said. “I can say ‘No thank you, now is not a great time.’”

The issue was brought forth just moments after the City Commission worked to reverse a previous encroachment on constitutional rights. Commissioners voted to strike language from the city’s loitering ordinance that allowed any resident with a “no loitering” sign to call the police on anyone standing within 50 feet of their property – even if they’re standing in a park or public right of way.

The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled the language unconstitutional after stumbling upon the loitering ordinance while reviewing an appeal of Winter Park’s picketing ordinance – a law that banned protesters from standing within 50 feet of a targeted residential home.

“In other words, private citizens can decide that they dislike the content or viewpoint of a speaker’s message and then contact the Winter Park police to enforce [the ordinance],” the verdict reads on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit website.

“This strikes us as unprecedented.”

Commissioners wrestled with how to regulate solicitors in a public area that’s privately rented by vendors during the farmers market.

“We just want to protect our customers from interference that they really don’t want,” Holland said.

A new version of the ordinance will come before the City Commission at a future meeting date.