MORGANTOWN — It’s not long by any stretch – about 105 words in total.
But some lawmakers are hoping House Bill 2892, introduced Feb. 24 by West Virginia Delegate Andy Shamblin, R-Kanawha, will have the final word when it comes to individuals using roads to interact with the public.
The bill has three paragraphs.
The first explains that the presence of people standing in the middle of the road, on rights-of-way or near the road creates a safety hazard.
Paragraph two states, “It is prohibited for anyone to stand in a roadway or on a right-of-way.”
In the final stanza, the bill proposes individuals found in violation should face misdemeanor charges and fines up to $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second offense within one year and $500 for a third and subsequent convictions within one year.
Co-sponsors of the bill include Monongalia County Republican Geno Chiarelli and Scot Heckert, R-Wood, as well as Shamblin’s fellow Kanawha County Republicans JB Akers and Walter Hall.
While it doesn’t mirror Monongalia County’s Ordinance Regulating Pedestrian and Vehicle Safety in length or language, the effect would be the same.
“Monongalia County joined on, Mr. Chiarelli, but this was brought up by the other counties across the state,” Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom said Wednesday.
The county ordinance, passed in October 2023, began life as an effort to stop panhandling in and around streets and intersections.
What was ultimately approved, however, basically says it’s illegal for anyone who’s not a first responder to do anything in a right-of-way.
This past December, commissioners Bloom, Jeff Arnett and Sean Sikora, along with former Sheriff Perry Palmer, were sued by nonprofit legal advocacy group Mountain State Justice.
The class action suit claims the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment “because it prohibits them and others like them from asking for donations or giving donations in public areas where those protected activities were common before its passage.”
The suit also digs into the ordinance’s origin as a panhandling discussion.
The county has since filed a motion to dismiss the suit, claiming that regardless of what words were used in prior conversation, the law on the books is a “reasonable time, place and manner restriction in compliance with the First Amendment” and that it is “content neutral, narrowly tailored and serves a significant governmental interest.”
Bloom’s comments were directed to a county resident who attended Wednesday’s meeting, in part, to ask what can be done about individuals loitering around the outbuildings he sells near the traffic light by Sheetz on Hornbeck Road.
Bloom noted that particular section of road is city jurisdiction, annexed as part of the Walmart development.
He further noted that the city doesn’t currently have any type of restriction in place (see above).
“If we can get this bill passed, then it’s statewide. I believe it will have an impact on what is happening with you,” Bloom said. “I can only imagine what you’re going through.”
The Dominion Post reached out to Mountain State Justice regarding the bill but didn’t receive a response in time for this report.
HB 2892 is one of two bills introduced in Charleston that would address hot-button issues in Monongalia County.
House Bill 2382, put forward by Chiarelli, would outlaw camping or storing personal property on non-authorized public streets, parks, trails or other property, improved or unimproved..
The bill’s introduction comes with Morgantown voters about two months away from deciding the fate of a controversial citywide camping ban that dominated headlines in the back half of 2024.
