City Gives Occupy Santa Cruz a Permit and an Eviction Notice

In a new tactic to get the members of Occupy Santa Cruz to police themselves, the city of Santa Cruz issued a permit to the 75 or so members who have been sleeping on the San Lorenzo Park lawn outside the County Building in a makeshift city of tents.

The permit, issued by the Santa Cruz Police Department and developed after talks between the mayor, city manager and police, allows campers to stay on the lawn until November 16 at noon and requires them to keep the park clean.

"This makes them responsible for all activities in the park," said Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark. "It gives them guidelines of what is acceptable and it also gives them an exit date. It's an important step in recognizing that this can't go on in perpetuity."

The protestors have taken up 20 percent of what is called the San Lorenzo Park Benchlands, behind the lawn bowling court and near the county building. They have also taken up some residence on the county bulding steps, however three were cited by Santa Cruz Sheriff's deputies Friday for camping on the steps and one was arrested for having no identification.

The permit requires the protestors to bring in portable toilets and forbids them from using the park's toilets or the ones in the County Building.

It limits the number of tents to 50 and forbids dogs, alcohol, drugs, smoking and open fires.

Clark said there was no decision about what would actually happen on November 16 if the movement chose not to leave.

"We'll see then what's appropriate for law enforcement," he said.

Attorney and homeless advocate Steve Pleich said the movement has no response yet to the permit, but will after a General Assembly meeting Saturday.

"Most of the conditions are not onerous," Pleich said. "We already have a porta potty and we can bring in more. The reduction of tents is also probably not a problem."

Pleich said the relations with the Sheriff's Department have been good and "very cooperative." He said the people cited and arrested weren't members of the movement, but "people who just needed to sleep somewhere."

The movement's goal right now, he said, is to have an information center everyday, 24/7.

Like many of the Occupy locations, there are those who are there for political reasons, mixed with some who are homeless and hanging out with the group. There have been reports of rapes at Occupy Wall Street, where one man was arrested on the charge and one reported at Occupy Cleveland.