Someone complains to the police that their neighbors’ backyard is filled with rowdy, drunken people throwing ping pong balls and hurling themselves down a Slip N’ Slide. A cop shows up, hands the host a $100 fine and posts a notice on the front of the house. The party is over.
San Luis Obispo Police Chief Deb Linden is currently developing recommendations on how to handle noise and partying in the city. If enacted, the laws will mean larger fines on party hosts, guests and property owners. The fines are supposed to deter people from hosting large, noisy events, but some question their effectiveness in a college town.
Business administration junior Chris McCarthy said he’s on the fence about the issue of noise and partying in San Luis Obispo.
This is a college town and parties happen, he said, but it doesn’t mean students shouldn’t respect their neighbors.
“We’re dealing with a town that’s basically divided among college students and senior citizens, which is basically oil and water socially. It’s all about respecting the neighbors and college kids don’t understand that coming right out of mom and dad’s house, and so older neighbors end up the victims,” he said.
McCarthy said he thinks the fines will be effective in quieting parties but not decreasing them.
“I’ve had friends who’ve had tickets, and they became very careful about who they invited to the rest of their parties and careful of noise, because college students are too broke to be paying $350+ tickets,” he said.
It’s an issue the neighborhood needs to work out, not the cops, he said. People should make sure the neighbors are okay with throwing a party once in a while.
“It’s a respect issue. but that’s easier said than done, I guess,” he said.
At a city council meeting on Sept. 29, Linden proposed the “unruly gathering ordinance,” which fines residents, property owners and contributing guests who host or attend a party that creates a significant disturbance. If an officer thinks the party fits the criteria – 10 or more people gathered on private property who are engaging in unlawful conduct by, for example, being excessively noisy, drunk in public, serving alcohol to minors, fighting or littering – he would disband the crowd and issue citations. He’d also post a notice stating that any subsequent unruly gatherings at the premises within a defined period of time will mean additional fines to the residents, owners and guests.
Rental property owners would be notified of the posting before being fined for subsequent violations. Owners who show they’re working on controlling unmanageable tenants won’t be held liable for violations.
Linden offered Tucson, Arizona’s “red tag” program as an example of an unruly gathering ordinance. In Tucson, hosts are initially fined $100, but within 180 days after a “red tag” is posted at the residence, hosts, property owners and contributing guests are fined for subsequent violations starting at $500 and going up to $1,500.
The fines are supposed to deter residents from throwing parties and guests from attending, but general engineering junior Jake McCune said the ordinance seems like an add-on for what the police are already doing for noise complaints, which cost $350 for a first violation, $700 for a second and $1000 for subsequent violations within one year.
McCune said that the unruly gathering ordinance will only mean more angry people, not fewer parties. Hosts will still throw parties but may try to regulate the noise level, even if they’re contributing to it themselves, he said.
“The number of people at each party may decrease, but the number of parties will not. This may help to quiet some parties down, but the number of parties will remain the same,” he said.
Parties are just a part of the college atmosphere, he said.
“You can look in any dumpster next to any dorm and find beer boxes or beer cans. You can go on to several streets just off campus and walk past a dozen houses having parties. Parties just seem to help to relieve the stresses of school life.”
City and regional planning senior Jessica Wafer said if she were to receive a fine for hosting a party or as a guest, she would pay for it, not her parents.
“I think it completely depends on who it is; I just know my parents wouldn’t pay for it no matter what… Just thinking about my friends and roommates, I think their parents would make them pay for it no matter what their financial situation.”
Wafer, 21, said she’d rather go downtown than have a party, but that increased fines would make her less likely to throw one. She’d still attend them though.
In addition to the unruly gathering ordinance, Linden is devising changes to the business tax and license laws that might spur rental owners to maintain property conditions, comply with rules like occupancy numbers and take responsibility for their tenants’ behavior.
Right now, businesses are issued a tax certificate, but since it applies to the whole business and not to individual properties, an owner could have multiple properties but only pays for the one certificate. Business owners also have to get one license, which means the city doesn’t keep track of the number or location of residential rental properties. There are also no specific requirements to revoke a business license if owners don’t take responsibility for their rental unit or tenants.
Linden proposed four strategies. The council could choose to not change the business license and tax programs, to inventory all the rental properties and check compliance with licensing requirements more often than every five years, to have business owners purchase a license for each individual property and add a provision revoking or putting on probation the license of an owner who failed to maintain the rental property responsibly, or they could implement the third option plus periodic safety inspections.
Tony Flatos, Farrell Smyth Property Director, said that the poor economy is affecting property owners. They have a lot of responsibility when it comes to finding responsible tenants; students without references pose a risk owners often have to take in order to rent their property. They come out of the dorms, dress up and act polite when it’s time to sign the lease and their parents guarantee it, but then start throwing parties. If the city strictly enforces regulations, owners might have to evict students and then not be able to find a re-rent, he said.
Flatos said owners across the city are going to have to get together and come up with a policy about re-renting after an eviction.
The council authorized Linden to further research all five of the strategies she proposed Sept. 29. Though Linden will present recommendations in January, Mayor Dave Romero doesn’t expect quick results.
“It may take weeks, months, maybe years to get everything squared away,” he said.
Romero said these issues are neither new nor one unique to San Luis Obispo.
“It’s not just our city,” he said. “Every city with a university in or adjacent to it has these problems.”