For the last three months, yogis and the City of San Diego have disagreed over donation-based yoga classes being held in public outdoor spaces — particularly those occurring on Sunset Cliffs.

Now, the matter has shifted to a legal dispute, as yoga instructors Amy Baack and Steve Hubbard went to court on July 12 to determine whether they could secure a temporary restraining order against the city to stop issuing citations for their outdoor donation-based yoga classes.

The municipal code affecting these public classes has been in effect since 1993, according to City of San Diego spokesperson Caleb Olsen. He said that recent updates to the policy specified which activities required necessary permitting. These updates went into effect on March 29.

“We had our initial injunction hearing a couple of weeks ago,” Baack said. “So that was a trial to see if we could secure a temporary restraining order against the city so they could stop issuing citations for the yoga classes. They’ve been hitting Steve pretty hard, he’s gotten at least three tickets so far and one was from streaming from his backyard.”

Hubbard did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication regarding the ticketing or legal process. However, he shared in a video posted to his Instagram @namasteve that following a class he streamed from his backyard, he picked up speakers he’d left at Palisades Park above Law Street beach. Upon arriving at the park, a ranger presented Hubbard with “[…] a ticket for illegal use of a public park, running a business in a public park, that I wasn’t even in at the time,” Hubbard said. “That’s how crazy San Diego has gone.”

According to Baack, Hubbard was following the rules that the rangers had previously given them.

“They told us that it would be okay technically to stream a class on their own in the park,” she said. “Nobody can shut that down. […] So, it’s starting to get a little crazy.”

Students, family, friends, and community members alike showed up for the federal court hearing to show their support, so much so, that Baack said that the courtroom was overflowing and many had to sit outside. However, the judge was not persuaded that teaching yoga at a public park falls under the First Amendment protection of free speech. The judge did not grant the preliminary injunction Baack and Hubbard were seeking.

“It was pretty clear right from the start that the judge was not going to be in our favor,” Baack stated. “She kept cutting off our lawyer and didn’t let our attorney talk but she let the city attorney talk forever and the most frustrating part was that the attorney said that as far as he knew we hadn’t applied to get a permit, sort of implying that permits are available for these parks, which they’re not. And it’s also a lie because I have multiple email records of me reaching out trying to see if there’s any way we can get some sort of permit. But they’ve kept turning me down.”

Andrew Sharp, communications director for the Office of the City Attorney, declined to comment on the case pending litigation.

“It has taken a lot out of me, a lot of energy and just a lot of my time and focus,” Baack said. “But, it is a labor of love because this is something I feel so passionate about. Also, I feel like I have the responsibility to uphold what my students want and everyone that I talk to all over San Diego is concerned about this and wants us to win and want a change.

Baack said that their attorney Bryan Pease has filed an appeal of the judge’s decision with the Ninth Circuit. This would allow a higher court to review the decision.

“We’re not done fighting,” she said.

Photo by Thomas Melville