Things are rough all over (loitering dept.)

It seems (according to this article in the New York Times) that Santa Monica, California, has a problem with people conducting fitness classes in traffic medians and other public places. The exercisers make noise and annoy the neighbors, especially when they have outdoor classes during hours when many people are trying to sleep. To control this unusual problem, the police are actively enforcing a Santa Monica city ordinance against congregating on traffic medians. They’ve issued 8 citations (with a fine of $158) and issued about 600 warnings, but unhappy exercisers are threatening to challenge the legality of the ordinance.

Oak Ridge doesn’t have a problem with outdoor fitness classes (at least not that I’ve heard of), but we do have problems with people disturbing neighborhoods (one neighborhood in particular) by congregating in the street and on sidewalks at all hours, sometimes blocking traffic, and often interfering with peace and quiet, as well as the neighbors’ peace of mind. They are generally assumed to be engaged in illegal activity (not kickboxing or pilates!), but it would be nice if the behavior could be stopped even when the police don’t catch them redhanded.

One thing we have in common with Santa Monica is that there are issues with the legality of anti-loitering laws (people should be able to congregate peacefully in a public place), but the City legal staff says we do have laws against disturbing the peace and quiet, and there are Tennessee state laws against blocking traffic, so it should be possible for our local law enforcement to reduce the loitering activity.

It sure would be nice if our biggest loitering issue was people doing sit-ups and push-ups on public sidewalks!