A tent is back standing in Centennial Square and the protesters who set it up say this time they're staying put.

Activists Kristen Woodruff, David Arthur Johnston and Jonathan Le Drew set up their tent at 7:30 p.m. Monday, emboldened by a decision yesterday by Victoria Crown prosecutors to stay charges of obstructing police against them stemming from an Oct. 31 incident in the square.

The three, along with Tavis Dodds, were arrested for refusing to comply with police acting on the city's bylaw enforcement policy. That policy limited the hours tents can stand to between 9 p.m. (later amended to 7 p.m.) and 7 p.m.

It was drafted in response to an Oct. 14 B.C. Supreme Court ruling that said sections of city bylaws that prevented the homeless from erecting temporary shelter, when no shelter beds were available, violated their constitutional right to security of the person.

Crown spokesman Stan Lowe said the charges were dropped over concerns the enforcement policy may not withstand constitutional scrutiny either.

"Constitutionally, if that's not a valid policy, there's not a basis on which to act," he said.

City staff learned of the prosecutor's decision Monday afternoon, but have not yet had a chance to brief city councillors or receive direction from them, said city spokesperson Katie Josephson. Efforts were being made to set up a meeting Wednesday or Thursday.

In the meantime, the enforcement approach won't change, Josephson said. Tickets will be issued to anyone with tents standing on city land between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

"We still don't feel that our parks are the appropriate place for 24-hour-a-day camping," she said.

Police met with the Crown's office and will meet with them again, said spokesman Sgt. Grant Hamilton.

"We will support the city in their enforcement, but really it's the city that needs to take the lead in how they're going to enforce this," he said. Police will assist bylaw officers if they run into difficulty.

By 2 p.m. Tuesday, Woodruff said they'd been told by a bylaw officer to take their tent down or they would call the police, but that never came to pass. She had not been given a ticket.

She planned to stay by the lone pup tent standing beneath the sequoia tree "until there is some kind of dialogue with the city or some kind of public discussion about the bylaw enforcement."

Johnston said word of the decision was spreading and he expected more tents could go up.

kvass@vicnews.com