City Files Motion to Move Tent Encampment to Marinship Park
Post Date:04/09/2021 7:20 PM
On Friday, April 9, the City of Sausalito asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to modify or dissolve its March 1 preliminary injunction to permit the relocation of the Dunphy Park tent encampment to Marinship Park, based on new facts and circumstances.
The City's court filing said the relocation of the encampment occupants could be safely accomplished. The filing also said that recent soil and air samples demonstrate that the boat disposal operations of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, located near Marinship Park, present no toxic risks to the park or to those who use the park.
District Court Judge Edward M. Chen, in issuing the preliminary injunction, said he was open to receiving a motion from the City to modify the order to permit the encampment to be relocated if it was demonstrated that "there are not toxic risks at the proposed encampment site at Marinship Park and that the move can be safely accomplished."
The U.S. District Court ruling was in response to an application filed February 16 by the Sausalito/Marin Chapter of the California Homeless Union seeking to stop the City from implementing a resolution permitting the closing of the Dunphy Park encampment and the relocation of its occupants to Marinship Park, as well as banning daytime camping. In granting the preliminary injunction, Judge Chen cited concerns that the relocation of the encampment and a ban on daytime camping may contribute to the spread of COVID-19 among encampment occupants and the broader public.
The date scheduled for Judge Chen to hear the City's motion to allow for the relocation of the encampment is April 29.
The City, in its filing, said it retained an industrial hygienist to determine if the Army Corps' boat disposal operations resulted in environmental contamination at Marinship Park. Analysis of a Marinship Park soil sample showed that "there has been no accumulation of toxic materials from the boat disposal operations over time." Analysis of air samples taken during active boat disposal operations "likewise showed that all toxic substances were either not detectable or present at ordinary background levels."
The City further said that it is making improvements at Marinship Park to provide for a safe relocation. Improvements include:
Deep cleaning, repairing, and repainting of the restrooms, as well as regular servicing and restocking of the facilities.
Supplying portable toilets, handwashing stations, a dumpster, and personal protective equipment.
Installing social distancing markers for the placement of tents in an area larger than that currently occupied by the Dunphy encampment.
In addition, the City states that it has retained a homeless service provider, Urban Alchemy, to develop a safe relocation plan and facilitate the move, utilizing multiple trucks and vehicles that will be provided by the City. Also, the City is working with Marin County to provide free vaccinations by the end of April for those occupants of the Dunphy Park encampment who wish to be vaccinated.
Improvements have also been made by the City at Dunphy Park to assist encampment occupants and improve living conditions. These improvements include portable toilets, a handwashing station, and a dumpster.
In another filing on April 9, the City of Sausalito also opposed an April 1 motion by the local chapter of the California Homeless Union asking the court to find the City in contempt of the preliminary injunction. The April 1 motion cites a March 25 incident during which officers of the Sausalito Police Department removed individuals from a houseboat that had been illegally towed from the Army Corps of Engineers boat disposal yard. The officers then arranged for the houseboat to be returned to the yard.
The City's opposition filing states that the City did not take any actions in violation of the court order and notes that police "lawfully exercised their public safety and criminal enforcement duties." A hearing on the April 1 motion is also scheduled for April 29.
Additional court filings may be found on the City's hot topics page about the tent encampment.
