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Occupy SLC protesters who had been squatting on a privately owned vacant lot near the Federal Reserve branch building decided Tuesday night move to the Gallivan Center after the city offered it as a new campsite.
The decision ends a standoff between Occupy SLC and the owner of the vacant lot who demanded on Monday that police remove the group, which is protesting corporate greed and the influence of money on politics.
The protesters, who set up the satellite protest site near the federal building as a companion to the larger Occupy SLC camp at Pioneer Park, voted on the move to Gallivan after Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank offered the site to them in a meeting Tuesday night.
Two protesters will pitch a tent at Gallivan on Tuesday night. Two tents will remain in the vacant lot overnight, and the protesters will move the rest of the campsite gear to Gallivan on Wednesday morning.
The protesters said they planned to be out of the vacant lot by sunrise.
There were about 15-20 protesters at the vacant lot during the discussion of the move.
The Gallivan Center is "a good centralized location for the movement," said occupier Seth Walker. "We are all generally happy. This is definitely a proof of progress of what can be done."
Walker added that with such an opportunity he didn't see anyone in the group risking arrest.
The group was instructed to work Wednesday on details such as length of the permit.
Before showing them the new location, Burbank told the occupiers: "The one thing I'm going to hold you to, and you kind of promised me yesterday, that this group is not going to be one that is going to have drugs and alcohol problems going on."
"Absolutely," several in the groups responded.
Burbank continued telling the occupiers he appreciated their cooperation. "It's a two-way street. It's not just the city, but it's all of you," Burbank said. "This is how we set the example for the rest of the nation on how we conduct business in Salt Lake City."
The group thanked and applauded Burbank before heading over to the see the new location.
The real estate company that owns the vacant grass lot at 147 State St., near the Federal Reserve branch building, complained Monday that the encamped protesters were trespassing, Burbank said. The company, Atlanta-based Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II, had agreed to give the group until Tuesday morning to find a new place to camp.
"As owner of the property in question, Wells is concerned for the safety and health of both protesters and other individuals who may find themselves in the area," company officials wrote in a statement. "Due to the disruptive nature of recent protests and the potential for safety or security issues, we've asked local law enforcement to facilitate a peaceful dispersing of protesters from the property."
About 25 people were protesting at the site Tuesday before receiving the news from Burbank, most holding signs. One read: "Sorry if we are inconvenient, we are trying to change the world."
Protesters had asked the city for public space to protest and camp in the financial district — about a mile from the movement's center at Pioneer Park — but were given a permit for only a single parking space. Walker said the Wells lot was the group's last resort.
The protesters on State Street do not challenge the accusation of trespassing but say the violation is worth the message. The group otherwise touts itself as a law-abiding, politically focused satellite contrasting Pioneer Park's much larger Occupy SLC group, which intersects heavily with the city's homeless.
One passer-by said the message doesn't matter; police should have removed the protesters as soon as trespassing was reported.
"They have no right to squat on this guy's property," said Salt Lake City resident Francis PoWell. PoWell and his wife, Linda, heard about the conflict over the lot on the news and drove to State Street "to find out if it was true," he said.
"I couldn't believe they were allowed to stay here," he said. "If someone camps on my front porch and I call police, will they come? It's not right for the police department to pick and choose what laws they're going to enforce."