SANTA CRUZ — When this year’s holiday parade kicks off Saturday morning in downtown, one of the newest additions will be the Atheists of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, whose members will march down Pacific Avenue with a banner bearing the words “Reason’s Greetings.”

Other groups sponsoring the banner include Santa Cruz Brights, UCSC Secular Student Alliance and Secular Humanists of Santa Cruz County, a coalition of like-minded individuals who have banded together to publicly express their “non-theist” ideology.

“It’s not an offensive banner in any sense,” said Howard Burman, who co-founded the atheist group. “It’s not criticizing any other religion or any other position when it comes to the holidays…. Our banner is merely saying ‘Happy Holidays’ from a reasonable point of view.”

The parade, which will include about 50 different groups, starts at 10 a.m. near the Saturn Cafe on Laurel Street and will travel along Pacific Avenue.

Meanwhile, Burman and other members are trying to decide where to place the banner after the parade.

Kathy Agnone, the city’s event permit coordinator, initially told Burman that he needed a special events permit — which requires liability insurance, overnight security and a $75 application fee — in order to place the banner at the head of the Pacific Garden Mall across from the post office Dec. 5-30. However, that permit covers events that involve street closures, amplified music, admission charges and other issues that don’t apply.

In an e-mail to Burman sent Monday, Agnone stated that the city has determined that the group does not, in fact, need a permit in order to display the banner, but municipal code requires it be attended at all times.

That’s not practical for the group, Burman said, so members are seeking alternative sites.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Yochanan Friedman said Chabad by the Sea didn’t apply for a permit to erect its menorah at the end of Pacific Avenue near Water Street this year — but not because of the permitting issue.

“Our organization went through some serious hardships this year and we didn’t have the manpower to put it together in time…. If we find a place to do it this year, we’ll be thrilled, otherwise we’ll do it next year,” he explained.

It is still not clear how Chabad by the Sea obtained the permit to erect its 15-foot-tall menorah.

When the organization submitted its application, members were told they needed to hire a private, 24-hour security guard for the display. Agnone said in an interview at the time that officials decided a round-the-clock guard was unnecessary since it would be “almost impossible” for anyone to steal the menorah.

Friedman said security was provided, but not around-the-clock.

“First Alarm donated security during the evening hours,” he said, “but even that was more than the city was requiring at that point.”

But according to city attorney John Barisone, Chabad obtained a commercial event permit — identical to the one obtained by organizers of the Greek Festival — because members said they planned to raise funds in connection with the menorah display. They also assured city officials that 24/7 security would be provided, “and if those conditions were waived, that was done without consulting me,” he added.

Friedman said he doesn’t recall what kind of permit Chabad received, but city officials “assumed we were doing fundraising (events) and we weren’t, it was just a display…. Maybe they changed it (to a commercial permit) and didn’t tell us.”