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Indybay Feature
Fri Mar 14 2014 (Updated 03/20/14)
2013: A Nasty Year of New Anti-Homeless Laws
New City Ordinances in Santa Cruz Target Low Income Residents, Restrict First Amendment
In 2013, the Santa Cruz City Council approved a number of new ordinances that disproportionately affect homeless and low income people. Local ordinances now govern such behavior as "loitering" on traffic medians and "disorderly" conduct in parks, which has been redefined and may now result in a 24-hour stay away order.
The amount of space artists, activists, street vendors and performers may use in downtown Santa Cruz has also been significantly altered. MC 5.43 bans spreading out a blanket as a "display device", and the law reduces the total area available to anyone with an open guitar case, table, cup, or any other method of display to 12 square feet (i.e. three of the squares on the sidewalk).
Additionally, there has been an increase in reports of related law enforcement activities downtown by the Santa Cruz Police Department. Officer Barnett, a new Community Services Officer, has reportedly issued an inordinate number of tickets, which include citations for sitting near a building, displaying jewelry and craftswork, and smoking downtown. Observers say Barnett has taken the lead in "reanimating" the business license requirement for occasional crafts vending downtown. Under MC 5.04.090, individuals are required to buy a business license when vending more than six times in a fiscal year.
Read More | See Also: The Great Morgani, aka Frank Lima, Gets Squeezed Out of Downtown Santa Cruz | Downtown Ordinances -- A License to Harass Scarf Lady Kate Wenzell | Shrinking Sidewalks and the Permit Fantasy | Be on the Lookout for "Bad News" Barnett: Bully in Light Blue on the Beat! | Artists and Allies Continue to Blanket Downtown at Latest Sidewalk Sit-In | Shafting Non-Shoppers: Expanding the Destructive Downtown Ordinances | Deadly Downtown Ordinances - Updated
The amount of space artists, activists, street vendors and performers may use in downtown Santa Cruz has also been significantly altered. MC 5.43 bans spreading out a blanket as a "display device", and the law reduces the total area available to anyone with an open guitar case, table, cup, or any other method of display to 12 square feet (i.e. three of the squares on the sidewalk).
Additionally, there has been an increase in reports of related law enforcement activities downtown by the Santa Cruz Police Department. Officer Barnett, a new Community Services Officer, has reportedly issued an inordinate number of tickets, which include citations for sitting near a building, displaying jewelry and craftswork, and smoking downtown. Observers say Barnett has taken the lead in "reanimating" the business license requirement for occasional crafts vending downtown. Under MC 5.04.090, individuals are required to buy a business license when vending more than six times in a fiscal year.
Read More | See Also: The Great Morgani, aka Frank Lima, Gets Squeezed Out of Downtown Santa Cruz | Downtown Ordinances -- A License to Harass Scarf Lady Kate Wenzell | Shrinking Sidewalks and the Permit Fantasy | Be on the Lookout for "Bad News" Barnett: Bully in Light Blue on the Beat! | Artists and Allies Continue to Blanket Downtown at Latest Sidewalk Sit-In | Shafting Non-Shoppers: Expanding the Destructive Downtown Ordinances | Deadly Downtown Ordinances - Updated
2024-04-09
Deal Described as One of the Most Significant Urban Land Back Victories in US History
Front Page
| Environment & Forest Defense
| Racial Justice
| East Bay2024-03-20
Victory! EFF Helps Indybay Resist San Francisco Police Warrant and Gag Order
Front Page
| Police State & Prisons
| Media Activism & Independent Media
| San Francisco2024-02-09
Catholic Anti-Choice Marchers Get an Earful from Abortion Rights Activists in San Francisco
Front Page
| Health, Housing & Public Services
| Womyn
| San Francisco
| South Bay
| U.S.2024-01-10
Wall of Shipping Containers Intended to Keep the Public Out of People's Park
Front Page
| Police State & Prisons
| Environment & Forest Defense
| Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism
| East Bay
| California2023-12-08
Largest Ever Pro-Palestine Marches in NorCal Demand End to US Aid for Israel's War on Gaza
Front Page
| Anti-War
| Central Valley
| San Francisco
| South Bay
| Peninsula
| U.S.
| International
| Palestine
| Santa Cruz Indymedia2023-10-31
Three Activists Detained at Climate Protest for Crossing Beale Air Force Base Gate
Front Page
| Environment & Forest Defense
| Anti-War
| Central Valley
| California
| U.S.2023-09-29
California Climate Justice Actions in Coordination with Massive New York City March
Front Page
| Environment & Forest Defense
| Central Valley
| California2023-08-19
Environmentalists Speak Out Against Airport Expansion as Climate Disasters Accelerate
Environment & Forest Defense
| East Bay2023-08-12
Starbucks Bus Tour Stops in San Francisco, Rallies with Allies to Support Unionization
Labor & Workers
| San Francisco
| Peninsula
| California
| U.S.2023-07-19
Halt to Fossil Fuel Funding Demanded as Wells Fargo Operations Shut Down
Environment & Forest Defense
| Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism
| San Francisco
| U.S.2023-07-13
Demonstrations Wrack France, Boiling Over After Police Murder of Youth
Police State & Prisons
| Health, Housing & Public Services
| Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism
| LGBTI / Queer
| International
| Government & Elections
| Immigrant Rights
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