Occupy Miami on Thursday agreed to relocate temporarily so that Miami-Dade County could do construction on the roof of the building where they are protesting, but the two sides clashed over the terms of the permit they need..
The county will install a public safety microwave radio system on the roof of the Stephen P. Clark Center on Sunday, and the work will require room for cranes to lift satellite dishes higher than 29 floors, according to county spokeswoman Suzy Trutie.
The county will allow the protesters to continue their demonstration on another lawn as long as they apply for a permit. The movement feels their original permit did not have an expiration date and that the permit covered the entire outside courtyard.
"In order to cooperate with your efforts, we will voluntarily move out of the area we are currently occupying, and move into another area which remains within the scope of our permit. Thus, the county can accomplish its construction goals without revoking our permit, and therefore has no reason to do so," said Alex Ospina and Julio Hernandez of Occupy Miami Peace City in letter dated Nov.9.
The protestors moved out of the area by around 8 p.m. Thursday.
The county disagreed with the protesters' assertions but approved two new permits for Occupy Miami to continue activities on the new lawn and on the original when the project is completed.
Occupy Miami will have 24 hours to return to the original lawn once construction is completed, according to Trutie.
Occupy Miami failed to renew their permit weekly, according to Trutie, but the county still allowed the protesters to exercise their free speech.
A telephone call to an Occupy Miami organizer wasn’t returned Thursday.
