Yoga teachers lose legal battle over city ordinance restricting classes in parks

Beach yoga instructors in San Diego faced another setback this week in federal court.

Yoga teachers Amy Baack and Steve Hubbard are suing the City of San Diego over its revised city code, which was amended in March to close loopholes in the street vending ordinance .

Among other changes, the code now restricts where yoga classes can be held and requires a permit to hold classes with more than four people in city parks. The permits, though, are not available for many city parks.

On Friday, a federal judge ruled against Baack and Hubbard, who argued that their First Amendment rights were being violated. They sought an injunction to allow them to hold classes in the parks, but the judge denied their request.

After her class at Sunset Cliffs was shut down by park rangers in May , Baack has since moved her donation-based classes to private property.

Hubbard, who has been ticketed by park rangers in Pacific Beach, has transitioned his classes to a virtual format.

Following Friday's court hearing, three park rangers stood outside Hubbard's scheduled class on Saturday morning. So rather than holding the class in the park, Hubbard ran to his Pacific Beach backyard and started a YouTube livestream just before the class was set to begin.

Dozens of yogis unrolled their mats, followed the link, and began to follow his teaching.

Despite more than four people being in attendance, nobody was given a ticket. The rangers left about 45 minutes after the class started, but not before one ranger pulled up the stream to watch Hubabrd on his phone too.

"I wish they would have started doing the postures, started doing the breathing," Hubbard said after learning the rangers were watching his stream. "To be honest with you, I assumed they were keeping track of me for the last six weeks. I just assumed they were watching my stream anyway."

Hubbard views his live streams, which he ran during the pandemic, as his only option right now.

"It's sort of a loophole for sure," he told ABC 10News about his livestream lessons. "They're making laws against things that are positive, that give back to the community, that support physical health, mental clarity, emotional balance," Hubbard said.

he City of San Diego did not comment on pending litigation but noted that the code has been in effect since 1993. A spokesperson said the update is to "ensure these public spaces remain safe and accessible to all users at all times."

Even after losing Friday's court hearing, Hubbard and his attorney, Bryan Pease, said the fight is not over.

"We're going to prevail," Hubbard said. "It didn't go our way yesterday, but we're committed."

Pease said Baack and Hubbard plan to appeal the injunction ruling while the lawsuit continues.