County Looks At Social Host Law For Palos Verdes Peninsula

PALOS VERDES — The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to evaluate a social host ordinance that would hold parents responsible for underage drinking parties in unincorporated areas of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Supervisor Janice Hahn proposed the ordinance at the request of residents and officials from the four cities that make up that area — Rancho Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates.

All four have or are in the process of passing similar regulations but are worried that the unincorporated, unregulated areas of Academy Hills and Westfield on the peninsula will become a magnet for big parties.

"I think this is a good idea," Hahn said. "I think the days are gone when the parents use the excuse, `Well, if the kids are going to drink, they may as well drink in my house.' ... It's dangerous."

Former Manhattan Beach police chief Rod Uyeda, who started his law enforcement career in the Pasadena Police Department, said he would never forget three high school senior girls gunned down in Pasadena following a underage drinking party and "countless others (who died) in car wrecks and overdoses."

Uyeda placed the blame on parents.

"Too many parents and adults want to be cool rather than be a responsible adult," Uyeda told the board.

Several parents and PTA officials agreed.

"A social host ordinance would help parents say no," said Heather Matson, president of the Palos Verdes High School Parent Teacher Student Association.

Matson and others said teenage parties can end up hosting hundreds of kids as the word spreads via social media.

Hahn said in her motion that more than 40 California cities and counties have adopted some form of social host laws and that those ordinances have been "highly successful at reducing the number of parties serving alcohol to minors."

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said she'd like to see more data on the impact on underage drinking overall.

"As a teenage drunk ... it wasn't hard to find a place to drink," Kuehl said, even though her parents didn't allow any alcohol in her home growing up.

Ventura County has social host ordinances that apply countywide, though fines and enforcement varies from city to city. About one-quarter of law enforcement officers surveyed for a 2009 study by Ventura County reported fewer calls for underage drinking parties after the regulations were passed and some data showed the size of parties had dropped.

A 2014 study published by the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs that surveyed 50 California cities found that strong social host policies were correlated with less drinking at parties but did not affect overall teen alcohol use.

Manhattan Beach, which has had an ordinance in place for 10 years, fines first-time violators $1,000. Rancho Palos Verdes has proposed a $2,500 fine.

The board directed county attorneys to work with representatives of the Sheriff's Department and District Attorney's Office to research the issue and report back in 30 days.

— City News Service, photo via Pixabay