The fiercely fought sit-lie ordinance, officially dubbed the Pedestrian Access Act, will become law after six months of public hearings and proposal rewrites, the Colorado Springs City Council decided Tuesday after more testimony from both sides.

The ordinance needs a final vote Feb. 9, but that won’t deter the law’s progress.

As has been true since the initial version was introduced in August, the ordinance has the support of Mayor John Suthers, Police Chief Pete Carey, downtown and Old Colorado City merchants and, more recently, the Downtown Partnership.

The council voted 6-2 for the law, with Councilwoman Helen Collins and Councilman Andres Pico dissenting. Council President Pro Tem Jill Gaebler was absent.

“My concern is, looking at the loitering and obstruction ordinances, why don’t we rework those?” Pico explained later. “I agree with the concerns. We have a problem down there. I’m just not convinced we’re taking the right approach.”

Steadfast opponents of the law include the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.

The question repeatedly asked Tuesday was what will be accomplished by barring people from sitting, lying, kneeling or reclining on sidewalks, curbs, alleys or streets in the downtown and Old Colorado City business districts.

Merchants and others say downtown vagrants frighten away customers and visitors, break windows and perpetuate other vandalism.

The worst recent case was the shattering of seven huge windows Jan. 10 at Rutledge’s men’s clothing store, causing about $13,000 in damage. Suspect Patrick Daily was wielding a metal bar when tackled by bystanders outside the store at 102 N. Tejon St.

“I’m sick of being homeless,” Daily reportedly said.

“One of our female employees was so traumatized, she had to see a physician,” owner Jerry Rutledge said, urging the council to enact the law. “They thought they were getting shot. . It’s just gotten horrific. They (vagrants) are very intimidating, especially to our female friends and patrons.”

“In the last year . I’ve seen downtown deteriorate,” said Nancy Borden, a resident since 1965. “I have been threatened, I have been followed. I have had to step over (people on sidewalks) and have almost fallen. Don’t I have rights? . My friends and I can’t come downtown anymore.”

Zac Chapman, executive director of Colorado Springs Food Rescue, said the law won’t eliminate vagrants from downtown.

“An individual breaking windows downtown has nothing to do with the Pedestrian Access Act,” he said. “You can pass this act, and it’s not going to change anything about this perception of safety.”

“There is no public safety need for this act,” said Alejandra Garza, field coordinator for ACLU Colorado. “It is intended entirely to give the police another tool for selective enforcement of homeless who are living in poverty and have nowhere else to go.”

The city’s police, prosecutors and judges stopped enforcement of two panhandling ordinances last fall after the ACLU found that hundreds of innocent people had been convicted and jailed. Tuesday, the council voted to gut both of those panhandling laws.

The new law now calls for a warning to be issued before any citation is written. Conviction of a first offense is punishable by a fine of up to $500 but no jail time. The initial proposal called for up to six months in jail and a $2,500 fine.

The second offense under the new law could command jail time, but sponsoring Councilmen Tom Strand and Keith King have said they expect community service to be ordered rather than jail sentences.

During a town hall last Thursday, ACLU Colorado Legal Director Mark Silverstein said the ordinance contains unconstitutional “affirmative defenses,” meaning those who are exempted from the law – such as disabled people – can be cited and then must prove their innocence rather than being given exceptions from the start.

Silverstein’s comments did not result in changes to the ordinance approved Tuesday, however.

ACLU officials wouldn’t say whether they will challenge the new ordinance.