MISSOULA – The Missoula City Council has voted to ban people from sitting, lying or sleeping within 12 feet of the entrances to downtown buildings.
The update to the city’s pedestrian interference ordinance was passed on an 8-4 vote Monday night. It was proposed as a way to deal with an influx of transients, some of whom sleep in and soil store entryways.
The council also banned sleeping or lying in streets or alleys.
Some say the changes don’t go far enough in addressing the problem, while others say anything more restrictive would be cruel and would possibly violate the rights of the homeless.