Since City Council’s decision to open a dialogue between Occupy Charlottesville and city staff to find an alternate occupation location, the local Occupy group has been contemplating its next move.
At last Monday’s meeting, elected officials delayed a vote to reinstate the 11pm curfew at Lee Park but also expressed their desire to not “stifle” the movement’s actions. City spokesperson Ric Barrick told C-VILLE that the occupiers received their latest permit to camp in the park on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.
Before Monday’s meeting, the permit was set to expire on November 26, a month since the first was signed, but Barrick said the current one has no end date since the city is working with the group to find for a “suitable space.”
In the event that the group is forced to move from Lee Park, occupiers have been discussing priorities for a new location. According to notes from the November 22 general assembly posted on the group’s website, the new location should be accessible by public transportation and city services, it should be visible and livable. Suggestions for possible new locations include the land containing the George Rogers Clark statue, next to the UVA hospital and McIntire Road.
Before anything is decided, Barrick said the city is asking Occupy Charlottesville for $36 in electricity usage for the month of November.