County Supervisors to Consider Crackdown on Party Homes

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled next week to convene its first public hearing on a proposal to penalize anyone who hosts “unpermitted” parties that create disturbances in unincorporated Riverside County communities.

Supervisors John Benoit and Kevin Jeffries jointly crafted Ordinance 924 with the intent to prevent “multiple responses to loud or unruly parties.”

The idea was first brought forward in 2012 by former Supervisor Bob Buster but failed to gain traction until last November, when Benoit and Jeffries decided to model a county ordinance after municipal regulations already in place in Coachella, Moreno Valley and Palm Desert.

“Facing issues of excessive noise, excessive traffic, public drunkenness, alcohol service to minors, fights, litter and disturbances of the peace, the cities ... introduced ordinances that work to shut down unruly parties by giving the sheriff the discretion to levy fees against the participants, tenants, property owners or any other responsible persons for the costs associated with repeated responses,” the supervisors wrote.

According to their proposal, which the board will take up as part of its policy agenda Tuesday, going forward, all “temporary events” in unincorporated communities will have to be formally permitted via an application process in which hosts submit a parking plan, emergency medical services plan, sewage and potable water plan, security plan, noise and dust limitation plan and proof of insurance.

“This ordinance will work to curb the tide of party houses and unpermitted events by giving the county a tool to punish bad behavior,” according to the proposal.

The ordinance would include a provision giving deputies authority to post preemptive notices warning individuals intending to organize a non permitted event that authorities have received word of what’s planned and that the “cost of a (sheriff’s) response will be imposed upon ... all guests causing a nuisance.”

Ten or more people must be present at a residence before a “public nuisance” gathering can be declared.

According to the proposal, fines will be levied each time deputies have to break up a noisy gathering at the same location within a 60-day period.

The ordinance would waive penalties against property owners or tenants hosting an orderly event that gets out of control due to the “conduct of persons who are present without the express or implied consent of the resident or sponsor.”

Fines would be calculated using the “direct and indirect” expenses incurred allocating law enforcement personnel to restore order.

Failure to pay a fine would result in an additional $100 penalty with interest, according to the proposal.

There are also provisions establishing penalties for so-called “false reporters” who summon deputies to an alleged nuisance gathering that turns out be nothing of the sort.

-- City News Services, photo via Shutterstock