‘Party ordinance’ passes over summer, students to receive misdemeanors for noise complaints

Chapman students will be fighting for their right to party this fall, after the Orange City Council voted unanimously June 14 to pass amendments to ordinance 03-16A, which is also known as the ‘party ordinance.’

These amendments make the ordinance more punitive for both hosts and attendees, and states that any person who is contributing “to the loud or unruly gathering” can be issued a misdemeanor citation.

“City Council members are fed up with our students,” Chancellor Daniele Struppa, who will become the university’s president Sept. 1, said. “I think it is unfortunate because, as I have said many times, it is a very small number of students who are really the problem.”

Denis Bilodeau, a former Orange city councilman who served from 2006 to 2014, is opposed to the ordinance, and has been since its initial passing in 2009. 

“I’m totally against (the ordinance),” Bilodeau said. “It’s clearly unconstitutional, and the city is attempting to criminalize common human behavior: socialization.” 

Junior film production major Philip Stilwell agrees, saying in a video published Thursday, that the ordinance “oversteps a lot of boundaries.”

“This ordinance can attach a misdemeanor to your record for the rest of your life and it can affect jobs,” Stilwell said in his video entitled “Everything wrong with the Orange, CA party ordinance.” “So many students are already on such a tight budget … If someone is here to be a student, they should be able to be a student without having the concern of these fines knocking them out of their living situation or making it harder for them to pay for essentials.”

The amendments also closed a legal loophole that potentially allowed partygoers to avoid fines by calling the Orange Police Department to request that their party be broken up before outside complaints are made. In the clarified ordinance, hosts can only call police to ask that their parties be broken up if no other complaints about that particular gathering have been made.

Additionally, the ordinance continues to allow residents to sue their neighbors if parties are held on multiple occasions – and if the defendant loses, he or she will be ordered to pay attorney’s fees. 

“If (the residents) win, the court can award them attorney’s fees paid by the other party,” said Wayne Winthers, the Orange city attorney. 

Despite the fact that waived legal fees make filing a civil suit enticing for residents, Winthers cannot speculate as to whether or not the amendment will lead to an increase in filings. 

Winthers also did not clarify whether or not he expects the number of misdemeanor citations to increase. If they do, he said, it will be due to an increase in complaints, and nothing to do with the ordinance itself.

“There is going to be an increase in (police) enforcement,” Winthers said. “(Citations being issued) has nothing to do with the amendments. It just has to do with the fact that complaints are coming in more.” 

Struppa acknowledges that the city has a reason to be upset.

“For a student, it is easy to be up at 2 a.m. and screaming and drinking,” Struppa said. “But for the poor guy who has to get up in the morning to commute to Los Angeles, it is just not fair. I think it is going to be a little bit of give and take. I think things are going to work out. We need to be realistic and understand that we have to respect our neighbors.”

Caroline Roffe contributed to this report.