Florida activist says cop warned her not to wear condo costume to Halloween party

Imagine getting a spooky call from a cop warning you not to wear a boxy condo costume to a Halloween party.

Hollywood mom Cat Uden says it happened to her.

Uden has emerged in the past few months as an outspoken critic of a developer’s plan to build a 30-story condo on taxpayer-owned beachfront land south of Hollywood Boulevard. And she still plans to wear her homemade condo costume to the city’s Hollyweird Halloween block party in downtown Hollywood Saturday night.

A crowd of more than 5,000 people is expected to gather in the 1900 block of Hollywood Boulevard from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. for live bands, candy stations and costume contests.

Uden was going to bring her 12-year-old son along for the fun but has since changed her mind.

“I don’t want him to see me getting harassed by the police,” she said Thursday.

Police spokeswoman Deanna Bettineschi said by email that Uden needs a permit to hold a “planned protest march.” If she attends the event and leads an organized demonstration, Uden will be given a warning and asked to leave, Bettineschi said. After a warning, the penalty could include arrest with a fine up to $500 or 60 days in jail, Bettineschi said.

The Miami-based Related Group wants a 99-year lease that would allow it to build a condo tower on the 4-acre parcel at 1301 South Ocean Drive, currently home to Harry Berry Park and a community center. In return, Hollywood would get a new park and community center plus millions in revenues.

A commission vote is expected before the end of the year.

‘Like a condo canyon’

Uden is leading a grassroots effort to kill the project, using social media, an email campaign and word of mouth.

On Sunday, she posted a notice on Facebook inviting people to show up at the Hollyweird block party in condo costumes like hers. Those who don’t want to dress up could bring “No Condo” signs instead, she suggested.

“Decorate a box and join us for the fun!” she wrote. “The more condos we have standing together like a condo canyon, the more impact we will have. … This event will be well attended, and it’s a good way to get the word out. #HollyWeird.”

The post appeared in “Hollywood Residents – Speak Up,” a public Facebook group with more than 1,800 members.

A few days later, Uden got a call from a number she didn’t recognize.

It was a police officer, she says, calling to tell her she didn’t have a permit to hold a demonstration at the Hollyweird block party.

The officer — Lt. Josh Czerenda — declined to comment Thursday when a reporter called.

Uden says he told her she could not wear her condo costume because it would constitute an unlawful demonstration. She countered that she had a constitutional right to wear the costume. “I told him it’s a costume party,” she said. “I don’t consider it a demonstration and that’s why I didn’t apply for a permit.”

The officer also mentioned her Facebook post urging people to bring signs, Uden says. She offered to remove that reference but says she was told the damage was already done.

By the end of the call, she says the officer agreed she could wear the costume, with one caveat.

“He said I could wear it but I can’t tell anyone why I’m wearing it,” Uden said. “He said if I told anyone why I was wearing a condo costume it would be an unlawful protest. I was shocked.”

Uden asked the officer to put his warning in writing and send her an email. As of late Thursday, she was still waiting on the email.

Hollywood on shaky ground

Bob Jarvis, a constitutional law professor at Nova Southeastern University, says it sounds like Hollywood might have overstepped in this case.

“The police are on very shaky ground,” he said. “There is no reason to think she is inciting anyone or that she will be starting a riot. She has a right to wear the costume. She has a right to make her views known. That is protected by the First Amendment.”

On Thursday, Uden shipped off an email to the chief about the phone call, saying the officer told her that “someone complained to him” that she and others might be wearing boxes/condos as costumes at Hollyweird, and that “that would be an unlawful gathering, so the police have been instructed to ‘deal with us accordingly.’”

Eric Fordin, senior vice president of the Related Group, declined to comment.

Clive Taylor Jr., another condo tower opponent, says he plans to join the block party dressed as a boat captain, not a boxy condo.

“It just keeps getting weirder and weirder,” he said of the costume controversy. “If people want to send a message with their costume, I don’t see what the problem is. That’s freedom of speech. People are very passionate about their beach and they don’t want to see the march of gigantic condos coming north from Hallandale.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan