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Law Summary
No one may stand on the sidewalk on the 500 block of Illinois Avenue. (Retracted)Why does this law exist?
In light of some new information I received on December 31st, 2009, I have retracted this "dumb law". Read on for more information:
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Good evening, Mayor Cole:
I am writing to you this evening in response to a web link that a friend sent me. The website involved indicates that “No one may stand on the sidewalk on the 500 block of Illinois Ave [In Carbondale, Illinois].” I am trying to ascertain whether or not this is true. I have attempted to use the search utility for the Carbondale Revised Code as made available on the Carbondale website, to no avail.
If you are not the person who can properly address this question, I respectfully request that you forward it to the person who can do so.
Respectfully,
Gregg Sperling
Carbondale, IL Resident
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It is not true.
Carbondale Revised Code section 17-1-4 addresses the fact that a person or group may not obstruct the flow of pedestrian traffic on a sidewalk (and it goes into more detail), which that website has determined means that a person can't stand on the sidewalk.
A person can certainly stand on the sidewalk, but a person can not stand on the sidewalk with the purpose of not allowing another person to walk past or whatever. Signs are posted to this effect in the 500 block of South Illinois Avenue, as this has been an area where panhandlers and vagrants have often taken camp to beg for money or stop/harass people who are downtown for dinner or business.
Thanks for the inquiry.
BRAD COLE, Mayor