Item C: Downtown Public Safety Issues

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BERKELEY / Council passesplan to stop bad street behaviorPage 1of 2 BERKELEY Council passes plan to stop bad street behavior Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, June 13, 2007 Berkeley's City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to pass most of a sweeping plan to clear the streets of aggressive and disruptive behavior. The Public Commons for Everyone Initiative passed 9-0 after months of debate among the council, homeless advocates, merchants and residents. The council instructed City Manager Phil Kamlarz to develop details of the implementation, which he will bring back to the council for further approval. "This is a tolerant and caring community, but we do have our boundaries,'' said Mayor Tom Bates, the legislation's sponsor. "As a small city, we can never solve the drug and alcohol problems that play out on our streets, but this is one thing we can do." The initiative cracks down on a wide range of behavior that some say make Berkeley's streets inhospitable to residents and visitors alike. Among the activities that will be banned are smoking near buildings in commercial areas, lying on the sidewalk, public urination and defecation, drinking in public, possessing a shopping cart and shouting in public. The initiative is expected to go into effect late this year. It is meant to expand portions of Bates' Telegraph Avenue revitalization plan across the city, especially downtown and the northern end of Shattuck Avenue, where merchants, residents and visitors have been complaining for years about disruptive street behavior. While Berkeley has an array of services for its 800 or so homeless people, many refuse to participate or are not reached by social workers. The initiative is meant to force this group into counseling and rehabilitation through the criminal justice and social service systems. Homeless advocates have fought passionately to stop the initiative, which they say victimizes the city's most vulnerable residents. The program's cost, about $2 million a year, would be better spent on housing, they argue. Berkeley's City Council also considered a plan Tuesday night to streamline the city's notoriously convoluted permit process for business owners on Telegraph Avenue. The ordinance, part of the Telegraph revitalization plan, would make it easier for shops and restaurants to stay open late, convert to different types of businesses, and exceed the quotas for certain kinds of stores. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/06/13/BAGQGQEGR11.DTL&ty...6/13/2007