Newport Beach Officials Explain 'Unruly' Party Law

— From KOCI News/101.5 FM

Newport Beach officials met with the public Thursday to explain the new (LUGO).

The city still has its Disturbance Advisement Card (DAC), which will be used for smaller disturbances, Newport Beach Police Lieutenant Bill Hartford explained, with the new ordinance being aimed at large parties and disturbances. The lesser DAC citation has a smaller fine.

"This is not for small parties. This is for the large parties," explained Deputy City Attorney Kyle Rowan. "Some of you may remember the Dennis Rodman days."

"The citations go two ways," Rowan continued, "with the property and with the person."

The fines for a person who is responsible for the nuisance start at $500 for a first offense, $1,000 for a second offense, $2,000 for a third offense, and $3,000 for subsequent offenses.

The fines for a property owner start at $1,500 for a first offense and are $3,000 for each subsequent offense.

The progressive fines apply to individuals because "we've designed this so you can't have a progressive party," Rowan explained.

There is a process for property owners who have been diligent to avoid fines and have the LUGO tag removed.

"In the first year, the landlord only has to show due diligence to abate the problem," Rowan said. "After July 1, 2012, there are two requirements. 1) There must be language in the lease prohibiting loud and unruly gatherings and 2) the landlord must diligently work to abate the problem or responsible parties."

The city has created a free PDF addendum that landlords can use to meet one of the city requirements to avoid fines.

Rowan said that the addendum meets the minimum requirements of the city, but urged landlords to speak to their own attorney to add additional language to better meet the needs of landlords.

Rowan warned that "Just because you have [the addendum] doesn't mean [you are clear]. You must be diligent."

By next Thursday the Police Department will have thousands of handouts that landlords can pass out to tenants explaining the law on noise.

The police will use LUGO to give citations to specific "responsible individuals" who create a serious nuisance, as well as to cite the property owner or tenant.

Police officers arriving at the scene of a loud and unruly gathering will use a flip camera to document the violation and make contact, according to Hartford.

When asked about loud parties with lookouts, Hartford claimed "We are crafty. We can park a block away and sneak through the houses."

"If the tenant or resident is doing his best to try to remove the unruly person, there will be no LUGO posting," Hartford continued, although the tenant or resident will still receive a DAC.

Otherwise, the police officer will post the LUGO tag. The LUGO tag is an 8x11 laminated cardstock with backing adhesive. The tag will be placed on the front door, front window, or other visible location. In some cases, a LUGO tag may be placed at multiple entrances. The LUGO tags are residential unit specific in the case of multi-unit housing.

The elements for a LUGO violation include any one or more of:

•    Excessive noise or traffic
•    Obstruction of public streets by crowds or vehicles
•    Obstruction of right of way by people or vehicles
•    Public drunkenness
•    The service of alcohol to minors
•    Possession or consumption of alcohol by minors
•    Assaults, batteries, fights, disturbances of the peace
•    Vandalism
•    Litter
•    Urinating or defecating in public.

The decision to use LUGO rather than DAC will be made "on the totality of what the officer sees," Hartford said. "There has to be one or more violations. More than likely more than one."

"The officer can issue a DAC card or a LUGO citation," Hartford continued. "The majority of loud noise complaints are either loud talking or a loud stereo."

In response to a public question, Rowan stated that was not included as an element because "It's not simple. In some cases it is legal to have, possess, or smoke marijuana and in some cases it is not legal to have, possess, or smoke marijuana."

In answer to another public question, Hartford said "fireworks are not built into LUGO. They're illegal and we have other ordinances to deal with fireworks. We will use measured enforcement. If someone is from Ohio and doesn't know, we will tell them that fireworks are not legal here and to put them back in the house."

Responding to a public question. Rowan said that "if a minor is cited, the parent is ultimately responsible."

"There are violations if someone removes a LUGO tag," Rowan explained. "If you see the tag has been removed, you'd better call the police and get it reposted."

In addition to the citations issued at the loud and unruly gathering, the police will also mail a notice to the property owner, based on the information in the property tax address and other city databases.

 Appeals of the posting of a LUGO tags are made in writing to Newport Beach Police Chief Jay Johnson and can be sent to NBPDchief@NBPD.org.

"You can file a written request to the police chief through e-mail and include documents as PDF attachments," Rowan explained. "Show the responsible person is no longer in possession of the property."

On a successful appeal, "we will remove it as quickly as possible," Hartford said.

Rowan added that "there are no time limits to appeal for removal of a LUGO tag."

Several landlords indicated that they intend to pass on any fines to the tenants. Rowan said they could do that, but the city wasn't involved.

Some landlords indicated an intent to leave LUGO tags up to discourage future tenants from holding loud parties. Several landlords claimed that the problem was not one week tenants on a family vacation, but rather the nine-month tenants.

Fines will be tripled in the Balboa Peninsula Safety Enhancement Zone from midnight the start of July 4th to 3 a.m. July 5th.

The perimeters of the Safety Enhancement Zone are 32 Street to Newport Boulevard to Pacific Coast Highway to Jo Anne Place to 54th Street to the Pacific Ocean.

"That weekend all of us work," Hartford explained. "On the Fourth of July, we bring in other officers from outside agencies."

The Newport Beach Police Department will be using a new system that "puts a lot of ownership on the supervisors."

In the new incident command system, the Safety Enhancement Zone will be divided into three commands, the Balboa Command, the Central Command, and the West Newport Command, each headed by a police lieutenant.

Officers will be divided into teams and the lieutenants in charge of each of the three commands will be responsible for how the police are deployed in their area, rather than the old system of centralized control. The commands will be able to reassign officers from less impacted commands to more impacted.