As part of an amended harassment ordinance, the seven-member Brighton City Council voted this month to make annoying behavior a civil offense punishable by a $100 fine.
"I think it's the most ridiculous thing in the world," Brighton resident Charles Griffin told ABCNews.com. "And I think everyone who voted for it should be impeached."
But town officials say the local media has blown the issue way out of proportion and, as a result, residents are misinformed.
"It's not an annoyance ordinance," Brighton Police Chief Thomas Wightman said. "It's a harassment ordinance."
The legislation prohibits physical violence in public places, insulting another person in a public place or harassing another person by telephone, e-mail or other forms of communication.
But the paragraph many are paying attention to reads: "It shall be unlawful for a person to engage in a course of conduct or repeatedly commit acts that alarm or seriously annoy another person and that serve no legitimate purpose."
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