A federal judge has ordered Berkeley officials to consider specific locations where unhoused people can move when the city closes the long-standing encampment at Eighth and Harrison streets. But Judge Edward Chen rejected homeless advocates’ request for a long-term postponement of the camp closure, and said Berkeley can clear the area “in short order.”
Chen’s order Thursday states that homeless advocates must generate, and city officials must approve or reject, a list of proposed new campsites for 23 camp residents by Aug. 27. It is the latest concession homeless advocates have won in their legal challenges that seek to block the city from sweeping the encampment, though the order does not require the city to approve any of the proposed new camping locations.
Berkeley has been trying to close the camp for several years over what officials describe as issues of sanitation, fire hazards and public health risks, while some nearby business owners and residents have filed their own lawsuit accusing the city of letting public nuisances go unchecked…