Berkeley sets March 9 deadline to leave Harrison encampment

Berkeley workers have posted a new round of closure notices announcing an end to the city's last large homeless encampment, on Harrison Street.

The notice, posted Monday by city staff, sets March 9 as the "compliance deadline" for campers to move out of the area.

"By this date, you must leave the encampment and take anything of value with you," the notice reads. "The City may come to clean up and permanently close your encampment at any time on or after March 9 without further notice."

The closure operation — a "sweep" or encampment "resolution" depending on your stance — was originally set for last Tuesday, Feb. 24, after the city posted notices throughout the Harrison Street corridor on Feb. 17, 18 and 19, according to city materials.

In this week's advisory, the city said it had pushed back that deadline to March 9 due to "inclement weather in the forecast."

Aside from the new date, the latest notice was identical to the earlier advisories, the city wrote.

Read more about homeless camps in Berkeley.

For more than a year, local activists — the Berkeley Homeless Union — have been using the Americans with Disabilities Act to fight the impending closure in court.

As a result of the lawsuit, the BHU secured a carve-out allowing eight campers seeking disability accommodations to remain in the area until U.S. District Judge Edward Chen lifts his order requiring the city to negotiate with them.

Chen is expected to rule on the matter on or after March 20 when the BHU and the city will each present their case in court as to whether enough accommodations have been made or offered.

Aside from the eight named individuals — Erin Spencer, Lewanda Parnell, Merced Dominguez, Ray Johnson, Yesica Prado, Austin White, Shareef Muwakkil and Eric Keiser — anyone who is "encamped or parked" in Berkeley between San Pablo Avenue and the railroad tracks, from Codornices Creek down to Gilman Street, must leave by March 9, the city wrote.