Kalamazoo, MI Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

Section 22-18, rewritten in the 2022 recodification after earlier amendments in 2006 and 2014, first requires anyone soliciting on private property in the City of Kalamazoo to get permission from the owner or person in lawful control of that property. For public places, the ordinance lists restricted zones and conduct rather than banning soliciting outright: none inside or within 20 feet of a bus or train stop, none at the intermodal transit center, none within 20 feet of a bank, credit union or ATM entrance, none from someone seated in a vehicle on the street except as the Michigan Vehicle Code narrowly allows, none after sunset or before sunrise, none within 10 feet of a building entrance, none from a child a solicitor knows or should know is under 16, and none inside a fenced outdoor dining or drinking area.

The section defines 'aggressive' soliciting to include approaching, following or speaking to someone in a way likely to make a reasonable person fear bodily harm or property loss, continuing to solicit after a person has said no, intentionally touching someone without consent, conspicuously following a target, or soliciting people waiting in a line. Soliciting a driver in violation of the cross-referenced Michigan Vehicle Code section instead carries its own civil-infraction fine of $100 to $500.