ROCHESTER, Minn. - The skyways are an essential part of accessing shops, restaurants and businesses, and they are especially useful for people to avoid the frosty winters, making them an easy refuge for the homeless. 

But Rochester's City Council is considering prohibiting sitting or sleeping in the skyways. 

Chief Franklin supports the ordinance, do others?

"It is obviously taking away a place they do go but finding a safer and more comfortable place to sleep at night would be a better option for everybody," Nitin Soorya said. 

Jennifer Carroll is an advocate for the homeless and disagrees. 

"I think it's a two-folded thing, I think there's no easy fix for the problem, no one-size-fit-all but over time if they do pass this city ordinance, it's going to eventually create a problem because there are going to be repeat offenders and that's going to create fines that aren't paid and a whole bunch of civil stuff," Carroll said. 

Jacques Partridge is homeless and says we just need to find some kind of solution soon. 

"From where I come from, Chicago being homeless too, Chicago has bigger homelessness problem than Rochester, but if things keep going the way they are going, it could be another Chicago," Partridge said. 

The city established skyway hours between midnight and 5:30 a.m. However, they decided to not go through with prohibiting sitting down or sleeping in the skyways.