Story highlights RNC "event zone" cut in half to 1.7 square miles

New steps to prevent confrontations between pro- and anti-Trump groups

(CNN) The city of Cleveland and the American Civil Liberties Union have agreed to a deal that will halve the size of a heightened security zone outside July's Republican convention.

At 3.5 square miles, the original planned "event zone" would have covered most of the city's downtown, preventing large-scale demonstrations anywhere near the convention site. The new agreement shrinks the perimeter to 1.7 square miles, creating new spaces for the dozens of groups planning protests next month both in favor and against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump and the party.

"This agreement prevents the 2016 RNC from being defined by an unnecessary conflict between freedom and security," Christine Link, the ACLU of Ohio's executive director, said Wednesday in a statement. "The new rules ensures that people have meaningful opportunities to express themselves on some of our most important national issues."

The new "event zone" has been reduced to roughly half its initial size.

The revised regulations also extend the city's designated parade route and provide buffer times between permitted marches in an effort to head off potential confrontations between pro- and anti-Trump groups, an ACLU spokesman told CNN.

As a federal "National Special Security Event," the convention hosts receive $50 million in funds from Congress to equip law enforcement and manage security in and around the convention hub, which will be held in the Quicken Loans Arena.

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