Ken Sarachan and Laurie Brown posted ‘No Trespassing’ signs outside of their property at the corner of Haste Street and Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, Calif., in early 2023 after the city began fining them for the presence of community members playing chess on their property. They had and have no affiliation with the chess club. (Grace Marion/Bay City News)
Local business owner Ken Sarachan is at a loss as to how to comply with Berkeley’s Code Enforcement office demands and avoid fines for unsanctioned tables on his property and the surrounding sidewalk. His bill now totals over $148,000.
Sarachan says that the code enforcement office presented him and the property’s co-owner, Laurie Brown, with two options for their 2454 Telegraph Ave. property: pay a $9,000 application fee to have his property’s use permit changed to allow a chess club he has no association with — with unlikely approval — or file a “No Trespassing” letter, post “No Trespassing”‘ signs and call the Berkeley Police Department to cite and arrest the chess players as they would in any trespassing case.
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Berkeley council seeks solution for displaced chess club while property owner faces fines
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Local business owner Ken Sarachan is at a loss as to how to comply with Berkeley’s Code Enforcement office demands and avoid fines for unsanctioned tables on his property and the surrounding sidewalk. His bill now totals over $148,000.
Sarachan says that the code enforcement office presented him and the property’s co-owner, Laurie Brown, with two options for their 2454 Telegraph Ave. property: pay a $9,000 application fee to have his property’s use permit changed to allow a chess club he has no association with — with unlikely approval — or file a “No Trespassing” letter, post “No Trespassing”‘ signs and call the Berkeley Police Department to cite and arrest the chess players as they would in any trespassing case.
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