Is the Party Over for Those Wild Newport Shindigs?

A proposal to slap fines on unruly partygoers and the property owners who host them won an enthusiastic reception from Newport Beach City Council members during a Tuesday study session.

Under the measure, which needs to come before the council again for a formal vote, any gathering of eight or more people making too much noise, creating traffic, urinating in public or otherwise behaving badly can be declared unruly by police. Fines would range from $500 to $8,000 (the highest fines would apply to the West Newport Safety Enhancement Zone).

"We need to have the ability to have shock and awe in this area, and other areas, where we have repetitive problems," Mayor Mike Henn said of the proposed law, which is based on a similar measure in Tucson, Ariz.

Here's how it would work:

If police arrive at a residence and deem a party "unruly," they could post a large red violation tag on the building for six months and fine the property owner. Individual partygoers could also be deemed unruly and fined. 

Subsequent violations within six months would result in steeper fines against property owners and partygoers alike. In the case of individuals, the bonus penalty would apply even if the subsequent violation was elsewhere in the city. So a person could receive a first offense in Corona del Mar and a second offense a week later on Balboa Island.

Some on the council were uneasy about fining property owners for first violations if the problem was caused by a tenant. Deputy City Attorney Kyle Rowen said the initial fine could be waived if a property owner takes steps to prevent additional violations—such as evicting the tenant.

Residents who spoke during the study session generally supported the proposal, with the exception of Jim Mosher, who compared posting red tags on residences to branding adulteresses with scarlet letters or the Nazi practice of forcing Jews to wear yellow stars on their clothing.

West Newport resident Lori Morris said she didn't mind people having a good time on the weekends, but "this isn't the Vegas Strip."

"It gets out of hand," she said, "the fighting, chasing each other up the street, the urinating on our property."

Resident and local landlord George Schroeder supported the ordinance despite concerns about property owners being fined for a first violation. 

"I’d like to see it go into effect,” he said, adding that he would change his leases to include violations as grounds for eviction.