Berkeley OKs laws dealing with homeless

The Berkeley City Council on Tuesday night approved a set of laws aimed at establishing a minimum standard of civility on the city’s streets. The Berkeley City Council on Tuesday night approved a set of laws aimed at establishing a minimum standard of civility on the city’s streets. Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Berkeley OKs laws dealing with homeless 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

Amid protest from homeless activists, the Berkeley City Council on Tuesday night approved a set of laws aimed at establishing a minimum standard of civility on the city’s streets.

The laws ban people from sleeping in planter beds, leaving personal belongings in trees, or taking up more than a 2-square-foot space on the sidewalk. They also tighten an existing ban on public urination and defecation.

Councilwoman Linda Maio, who proposed the rules, said the idea is to discourage obnoxious behavior, rather than penalize people who have nowhere to go.

“All residents of Berkeley should be able to enjoy their communal spaces and walk on sidewalks,” Maio wrote in a press release issued Monday. She said the laws will take effect once the city has installed 50-100 storage bins for people’s luggage.

The council voted 6-3 to pass the laws at a rowdy meeting that lasted well into the night Tuesday. Councilmen Max Anderson, Jesse Arreguin and Kris Worthington dissented.

In an interview Monday, Arreguin called the ordinances “a half-baked, reactive response to a really important issue.”

“I think it makes more logical sense for the city to look at how to increase its services, instead of citing somebody for having lots of stuff” on the sidewalk, Arreguin said.

Maio, too, would like to see Berkeley ratchet up its homeless services, as the city’s population of street dwellers appears to be growing, she said.

In 2013, the council voted unanimously to build an emergency shelter that would offer comprehensive services, similar to the Navigation Center in San Francisco. At that time, the city was facing a crisis: A 2009 homeless count found more than 800 people living on the street in Berkeley.

Since then, the problem has gotten worse, Arreguin said, but there is no concrete plan to build the shelter.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan