[UPDATED with July Fourth Tally:] Red Tags and $8,000 Fines: Newport Beach Considering Partying Ordinance


UPDATE, JULY 5, 2:47 P.M.: The results are in from the first test of Newport Beach's “Loud and Unruly Gatherings Ordinance.”

Over the long Fourth of July holiday weekend, 15 homes were “red-tagged” and 59 arrests were made, according to Newport Beach police.

Offending homeowners face $1,500 fines for first offenses and $3,000 for subsequent infractions. Homes hit with red tags are essentially on probation for the next six months.
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As for the arrests, the number was essentially the same as previous Fourths in Newport.


UPDATE, MAY 11, 8:15 A.M.: The party culture on the Newport Beach peninsula will be changing. At least, that's what the city council is hoping for, following its vote in favor of an ordinance which will impose steep fines to “loud and unruly” gatherings.

The “Loud and Unruly Gathering Ordinance” had a few tweaks made before it was passed by the city council on Tuesday evening. Instead of placing large red tags on first-time offenders homes for six months, a black-and-white notice will go up for three months. Land owners are worried about the impact the ordinance may have on property values and residents are concerned the ordinance gives too much power, without the need for discretion, to police officers.

As for the $8,000 fines for repeat offenders? The maximum fines were reduced to $3,000, according to a report by the Daily Pilot. To reach that fine, a violator would need to be fined four times within the first six months of the initial violation. The city council indicated that fines will be increased for the Fourth of July, with first-time offenders facing a $1,500 fine instead of $500. 


UPDATE, APRIL 27, 4:40 P.M.: For now, the rowdy partying in Newport Beach can continue. At last night's city council meeting, the decision was made to postpone a vote on the “Unruly Party Ordinance” to the May 10 meeting. 

Mayor Mike Henn opposed the delay. “We need a tool for this Fourth of July. We need a tool well enough in advance of the Fourth,” he said, according to Newport Beach Patch.

ORIGINAL POST, APRIL 12, 5:18 P.M.: Dennis Rodman would probably be in bankruptcy proceedings if the proposed “loud and unruly gathering ordinance” was in place when he resided in Newport Beach. During his eight years as a beachfront resident there, the heavily tattooed and pierced retired NBA star was known to throw the occasional raging party at his pinkish-brown home off Seashore Drive. Police supposedly made more than 80 house calls during that time. Just imagine the surplus of funds.

Since Rodman isn't around, authorities will have more time to keep their eye on other “party houses,” issuing citations and red tags at will. That is, if the city council decides the ordinance is necessary. It will discuss the ordinance at its meeting tonight.

The ordinance would call for $500 fines for first violations, increasing up to $8,000 for a fourth violation, if they occur within a six-month period. Fortunately, 4th of July only occurs once a year. Anyone who's been in Newport Beach on Independence Day knows Balboa Boulevard and the surrounding streets become a meeting place of the well-boozed and scantily clad. 

In enforcing the ordinance, all it will take is for an officer to identify what some people may consider common partying behavior: urinating in public, stumbling down the street, being excessively noisy, or getting the neighbors' kids drunk (serving alcohol to minors). In such an instance, a large red tag would be placed on the front door of the party house, identifying the first violation. Think The Scarlet Letter meets A Brave New World
Somewhere, Rodman sheds a tear for the hard-partiers of his former city.

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