SANTA CRUZ, Calif - The City of Santa Cruz informed "Occupy" protesters Friday afternoon they have until November 16th to vacate San Lorenzo Park.
The following is a news release from the City of Santa Cruz.
On November 4, 2011, the City of Santa Cruz issued a non-commercial event permit to the Occupy Santa Cruz demonstration. The permit specifies conditions of use for the San Lorenzo Park Benchlands as well as an event end date.
The Santa Cruz Municipal Code requires non-commercial event permits for certain demonstrations that occur in city parks. The on-going demonstration has cross the non-commercial event threshold and therefore requires a non-commercial event permit.
The Occupy Santa Cruz demonstration has now grown to cover approximately 20 percent of the San Lorenzo Park Benchlands with the establishment of approximately 75 temporary structures in the area without the benefit of any toilet or other sanitation facilities. The City has therefore decided to issue a permit setting forth conditions with which the demonstration must comply in order to continue at the park for a period of time specified in the permit (12:00 p.m., November 16, 2011)
The permit is also being issued in recognition that City visitors and residents have the right to use the park for recreational purposes for which the park was established and intended. This use has effectively been precluded for nearly two months. The City also has an interest in preserving and maintaining the park's landscape, vegetation, and sanitation.
While the use of the park for the exercise of First Amendment rights by Occupy Santa Cruz demonstrators is a legitimate use of City park property., the City has not only the legal prerogative, but a fiduciary obligation to other community members to regulate the time, place and manner of that First Amendment use so as to accommodate the rights of others who wish to use the park and to facilitate the City's maintenance of the park property so that it remains accessible, safe and sanitary for all City residents and visitors.
