Court Battle Over Use of Park : Krishnas Cancel Plans for Festival in Laguna

Barred from Main Beach Park, the Laguna Beach Hare Krishna chapter will cancel its Festival of India this summer rather than seek another location, a member of the group said Tuesday.

A federal judge Monday rejected the Krishnas’ request for an order forcing the city to allow the festival to proceed this weekend in Main Beach Park, where it was held last year. The 6.3-acre oceanfront park is located along Coast Highway in downtown Laguna Beach.

Structures Prohibited

A city ordinance enacted in March prohibits groups from erecting structures in the park. The Krishna festival features photo and art exhibits--”constitutionally protected forms of expression,” according to the sect’s lawyer, David M. Liberman--that are prohibited by the ordinance. The Krishnas filed suit in an attempt to have the ordinance overturned last May.

While refusing to grant an injunction, U.S. District Judge William M. Byrne Jr. on Monday also rejected the city’s bid to have the lawsuit dismissed. It probably will go to trial in the fall, Liberman said.

The ordinance allows structures at other locations, including Irvine Bowl, site of the Pageant of the Masters art show. But the Krishnas are not interested in holding the festival at another location, or on another weekend, said Ratna Cintamani Dasi, a member of the chapter.

“This is the only weekend we can have it,” Dasi said. “It’s a professional setup that travels all over the world that organizes the festival. Next weekend they’re going to be in L.A. for the huge parade of the chariots, and after that in San Francisco.”

Ordinance Called ‘Sham’

“I’m hoping that when all of the evidence comes out, the judge will see that the city has no justification for the restriction,” Liberman said. “The ordinance is a sham.”

The city, however, maintains that the ordinance’s restrictions apply equally to all organizations and do not infringe on the Krishnas’ First Amendment rights.

“There is nothing to prevent them from coming on the beach and conducting religious ceremonies, chanting, giving out food or proselytizing,” said City Atty. Philip D. Kohn. “The only thing it prohibits would be their bringing onto the beach structures and exhibits.”

Allowing groups to erect tents and exhibits on the beach, Kohn said, “is incompatible with normal recreational and aesthetic enjoyment of the beaches.”