FAIRFAX, VA — Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a measure on Tuesday directing the county's police and transportation departments to team up with the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness to gather fresh data on the public safety risk of panhandling.

"While courts have maintained repeatedly that panhandling is protected speech, the concerns residents have shared are in regard to public safety. That is, worries over individuals who panhandle, as it often takes place at busy intersections," Chairman Jeff McKay said, as is introduced the board matter at Tuesday's meeting. "Furthermore, Fairfax County and this board have invested extensively in human services and resources aimed at ensuring residents do not have to turn to alternative means to meet their basic needs."

McKay added that it was not his nor the board's intention to infringe on anyone's constitutional rights. However, he said it was necessary for the county to ensure that its residents and the broader community remained safe.

"We know that many of the people who are panhandling are not homeless individuals, but rather are preying on the extraordinary generosity of our residents in Fairfax County," he said. "And so, one of the things that I know we've done in the past is a public education campaign about not giving money to panhandlers, but instead supporting our nonprofits who provide support services for those individuals or other ways to share their generosity to help people who are in need."

The board unanimously approved McKay's board matter, which directed county staff to provide "data-driven analyses into whether there is a public safety risk related to or stemming from panhandling" and to offer solutions or options to the board to any issue that is identified.

The is not the first time the board has tried to tackle the panhandling issue. In 2019, the supervisors approved a measure introduced by Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity and former Braddock District Supervisor John Cooke to consider a curb-to-curb safety ordinance, according to a board matter introduced by Herrity on Tuesday. The idea was to prevent anyone from engaging motorists stopped at an intersection.

During a Sept. 17, 2019 meeting of the board's Public Safety Committee, the county attorney recommended that a curb-to-curb ordinance would be more likely to hold up in court if the language was "content neutral, limited in scope, and focused on conduct." In addition, the ordinance would need to address specific traffic safety problems. The county attorney recommended that staff obtain information about specific traffic safety issues.

Eventually, the board agreed to post signage and received data in March 2020 from the police department identifying more than 40 panhandling hotspots, according to Herrity's board matter.

"My office was told that staff had a sign design prepared and ready to present to the Board but were waiting on other logistical issues," Herrity said, in his board matter. "The pandemic hitting in mid-March 2020 delayed those efforts."

Although McKay's board matter on panhandling was unanimously approved, the one introduced by Herrity, who is the lone Republican-endorsed supervisor, failed to be seconded by any of his Democratic-endorsed colleagues.

The main difference between the two board matters was that Herrity wanted to begin the process of designing signage and directing the county attorney to draft a curb-to-curb ordinance based on the data the county had already gathered. McKay wanted to start with a fresh set of data, saying that "the world has changed since we talked about this the last time."

On Tuesday afternoon, Herrity released the following statement:

"I have been working for the last three years to have the County address panhandling with the solutions the Board committed to in 2019. For us to move forward so far only to start back at square one is a disservice to our residents and to every motorist and panhandler whose life is in danger in our medians each day we delay. We live in an increasingly urban suburb with very busy intersections where it isn't safe for anyone to be interacting with motorists. The County has great resources to connect with people who are in need, which is a much safer and more sustainable way to help those in need than to give from your car."