Elk Mound repeals loitering ordinance
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — You can now sit in the village park for hours, reading a book — or wait on the street corner outside the Pourhouse for a friend to arrive — or admire a neighbor’s front yard flower garden without fear of being arrested for loitering.
The Elk Mound Village Board has approved repealing ordinance 11-2-5 pertaining to loitering and unlawful assembly.
The village board has the advice of Elk Mound’s police chief and should perhaps get the advice of the village’s attorney, said Terry Stamm, village trustee, at the Elk Mound Village Board’s March 20 meeting.
Stamm chaired the meeting in the absence of Village President Gregg Kipp.
The village has other ordinances that would cover situations where the loitering ordinance might be used, said Elk Mound Police Chief Chad Weinberger.
The potential for abuse of the ordinance is in “I don’t like you” when charging someone with loitering, he said.
At the March 6 meeting, the police chief referred to an incident in Turtle Lake where a motorist was cited for loitering under an ordinance similar to the Elk Mound ordinance and told the village board that such ordinances have been deemed unconstitutional
According to videos posted online, the Turtle Lake incident occurred in August of 2022 and involved a man named Travis Heinze, who was resting in his car after a long road trip. The Turtle Lake police chief apparently woke up Heinze and ordered him to leave town, citing the Turtle Lake ordinance on loitering.
The police chief could not or would not identify any particular crime Heinze had committed while sleeping in his car.
In the video, Heinze appears to be parked in the empty parking lot of perhaps a park.
The police chief says Heinze has been there all day and that he is being ordered to leave town. When Heinze asks what he has done wrong, he is told there is an ordinance that does not allow loitering and to get out of town.
According to various online sources, federal courts have ruled against similar loitering ordinances for being overly broad, vague and not addressing any kind of crime except the “crime” of merely being present in a particular situation.
The village has other mechanisms that can deal with situations instead of the loitering ordinance, Police Chief Weinberg reiterated at the March 20 meeting.
The police chief said that if village board did not repeal the ordinance, he would consider the ordinance as unenforceable.
If someone is on private property, that person can be cited for trespassing, he said.
If a person is causing a problem at a business, that person can be cited for disorderly conduct, Police Chief Weinberger said.
If people are at the village park, how are you going to say that a group of kids playing basketball for six hours is okay, but the person who has been sitting there reading a book for six hours is not okay, he said.
Elk Mound also has an ordinance that places a time limit of eight hours on parking, the police chief said.
The Elk Mound Village Board unanimously approved a motion to repeal the ordinance on loitering and unlawful assembly and that the village check with the village’s attorney for the proper procedure for repealing an ordinance.