Homeless Advocates Score Legal Win Against Marin Co. City

NOVATO, CA – Homeless advocates embroiled in a legal dispute with the city of Novato scored a legal victory Friday.

A U.S. District Court judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing the municipality from enforcing newly enacted measures aimed at dismantling the Lee Gerner Park encampment.

The California Homeless Union and esidents of "Camp Compassion", the homeless encampment in Lee Gerner Park filed a lawsuit seeks to prohibit enforcement of measures that would relocate residents of the encampment.

Judge Yvonee Gonzalez Rogers granted request a temporary restraining order preventing Novato from enforcing these measures.

The California Homeless Union argued that the city’s ordinances violate constitutionally protected rights to sleep on public lands.

“We’re determined to make certain that we do everything we can to ensure these measures are declared unconstitutional by the court and ensure the city does not under any guise or under any pretext continue sweeping people and breaking up encampments and essentially trying to rob people of their rights,” the plaintiff’s lead counsel Anthony Prince told The Marin Independent Journal.

City officials issued a statement Friday assailing the ruling and said services aimed at helping the city’s homeless population will be delayed due to the injunction.

“The city is disappointed to learn that some occupants of Lee Gerner Park have taken this step that will delay the very services they demand - immediate and safe housing - that would have included substantial support services,” City Manager Adam McGill said in a statement.

“The City went to great lengths to develop a thoughtful plan for this issue that would have met the concerns expressed by the occupants of Lee Gerner Park, considered COVID precautions, and complied with federal law, all of which would have been a win-win for the homeless and the restoration of Lee Gerner Park. We are confident the City will prevail and ultimately be able to help those that truly need and desire these vital services.”

City officials last week approved a 4-step action plan to address homelessness, with the stated goal of providing interim housing for residents of the encampment.

In the first step, Novato would prohibit all day camping between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. in city jurisdiction, and overnight camping within 50 feet of "critical infrastructure" like government buildings, utility facilities, train stations and water sources.

Novato is also investing $240,000 to hire more case managers and work with nonprofit Homeward Bound of Marin for immediate housing, food, job placement and other services.

Priority is given to those at Camp Compassion, but accepting services are voluntary.

The city says that the ordinances will not "criminalize homelessness", force people to go into housing or eliminate the encampment, so long as it keeps its distance from Novato Creek and the library, according to their website.

City staff have already put down 50-feet buffers at Lee Gerner Park to identify where the camp residents can reside at night.

Those who continue to camp near critical infrastructure or day camp will be "subject to enforcement of the ordinances which may include arrest," the city's press release reads.

Camp Compassion residents and the Novato Chapter of the California Homeless Union feel these actions are more of a threat than ample resources. In their filed lawsuit, they argue that these policies are specifically targeted against those in Lee Gerner Park, and the homeless population in Novato as a whole.

The group also alleges that these policies will increase the risk of harm, especially the ordinance to prohibit day camping, as homeless individuals will have to frequently move around the city if they cannot find shelter.

"[...] Platintiffs are forced to constantly walk the streets, made to carry or leave behind vital survival items or hide in dangerous locations where there is no relief from the elements," the filed lawsuit reads.

— Bay City News contributed to this report