KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) - The Ketchikan City Council has postponed a decision on a proposed ordinance that would restrict local merchants from hawking to people passing by.
Ketchikan radio station KRBD (https://is.gd/wToYrn) reports the council unanimously decided Thursday to wait until after the tourist season before addressing the issue in the fall.
The ordinance calls for prohibiting businesses from soliciting customers outside enclosed spaces, such as stores.
Workers at some downtown businesses stand just outside the stores and call out to potential customers. Other businesses lease space outside stores to vendors selling tours to passersby.
Before the council’s postponement decision, the proposal generated mixed reactions among those testifying Thursday.
Reactions ranged from people saying the proposal impedes First Amendment free-speech rights to people saying hawking is an aggressive approach that needs to be corrected.
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Information from: KRBD-FM, https://www.ktn.net/krbd/
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