YAKIMA, Wash. -- Some downtown businesses want the city of Yakima to take a tougher stance against panhandlers who they say scare off business.

City officials say existing laws prohibit the kind of aggressive panhandling that's generated some recent complaints. But as panhandling becomes more visible downtown and at key intersections around Yakima, the council has been hearing more requests for action.

"They're harassing my guests and they're getting more aggressive," says Verlynn Best-Buttrey, general manager of the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott, at 137 N. Fair Ave. "I'm finding more and more in my parking lot."

A fair share of the complaints, many city and business leaders say, stem from one woman who grabs passers-by and demands money.

"She was giving panhandlers a bad name," says Chris Malland, co-owner of the Yakima Sports Center on Yakima Avenue.

Malland said problems caused by the woman have subsided in recent weeks. Other problems, however, remain.

"It really bothers me when they stand out there and they pick off whoever is coming into the lot, and we talk to them. We don't let them bother our clients," he said. "But panhandling occurs everywhere you go in the U.S."

Yakima police Lt. Mike Merryman said that police haven't noticed a spike in complaints about panhandling.

"From the patrol side of this issue, we're not seeing that," he said. "What might be aggressive to you might not be aggressive to somebody else. It depends on your level of comfort."

The current city ordinance prohibits people from obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic, begging in a way that intimidates, or touching or following the person solicited.

Other cities, such as the Olympia suburb of Lacey, have outlawed panhandling near ATMs or at certain times of the day. In Florida, one city tried curbing the problem by making panhandlers obtain a license to beg; that ordinance didn't hold up in court.

The challenge for those seeking ways to curb panhandling is to not violate First Amendment rights that allow begging for money in public places.

"We need to evaluate what we already have on the books and what our enforcement of those regulations is as they exist, as well as what options may be available for the council to consider," said Assistant City Manager Dave Zabell. "I guess we are a smaller city, but aggressive panhandling looks the same in the city the size of Yakima than it does in a city the size of Seattle."

Doug Honig, a spokesman for the ACLU of Washington, said his organization opposes ordinances -- including one in Seattle -- that make it a crime to sit or lay in sidewalks because "people in our society have a right to express themselves, and that includes saying they're needy and need money."

He says such ordinances don't solve the underlying problem of poverty and homelessness.

"It simply makes them less within the sight of other people," Honig said.

Yakima's advocates for the poor say the vast majority of the city's homeless don't panhandle.

"When you talk to most homeless people, they think it's below them," said Tim Sullivan, Yakima County's housing and homeless program manager. "It makes a lot of the folks who are true homeless truly angry to see these other panhandlers."

Sullivan recommends donating money to homeless shelters, food banks or other organizations for the needy instead of giving money to panhandlers.

City legal staff is expected to outline some options for council members to consider in the coming weeks.

Councilman Rick Ensey suggests the problem would largely abate if people would stop giving them money.

While Ensey said he has no problem reviewing the ordinance, he remains unpersuaded that existing regulations need to be drastically improved.

A similar refrain is echoed by Mayor Micah Cawley.

The council should review the existing ordinance to "see what's realistic, what's already on the books and take it from there," he said.

"A lot of it comes down to enforcement. Do we have the resources to focus on this issue? We're constantly fighting that battle with limited resources," he said.

* Melissa Sánchez can be reached at 509-577-7675 or msanchez@yakimaherald.com.

* Reporter Chris Bristol contributed to this report.