Newport staff will look into taming July 4

June Casagrande

Extraordinary problems call for extraordinary solutions. That’s

the idea behind Councilman Gary Proctor’s request that city staff

look into ways to curb the Independence Day mayhem.

“I would like to ask staff to do a little research for us,”

Proctor said at last week’s City Council meeting. Specifically, he

said, he wants to look at ways places such as Pasadena and Ft.

Lauderdale, Fla., have tackled problems with the Rose Bowl and spring

break, respectively.

“We need to think outside of the box a little in terms of

ordinances,” Proctor said.

This research could provide ammo for the soon-to-be-formed July

4th West Newport Beach Safety Planning Committee, which council

members created at their Sept. 12 meeting.

On Aug. 27, Newport Beach Police Chief Bob McDonell gave council

members a presentation on some of the things police had to deal with

this past Fourth of July. The at-times shocking video showed huge

crowds, parties and the arrests of many drunken partygoers.

McDonnell was also armed with statistics. For the 2002

Independence Day holiday in West Newport, there were 162 arrests that included 14 felonies while 1,344 persons received citations.

Wages for police officers to work the event, including overtime

for Newport Beach officers and specially hired Orange County

Sheriff’s deputies, California Highway Patrol and Costa Mesa

officers, totaled $90,643.

Council members agreed it’s time to get serious about taming the

holiday revelry. Among the strategies that could be considered are

banning liquor sales, blocking off some or all streets, cracking down

on tenants who violate housing codes and even some long-term

solutions such as reinventing the area as zoned for owner-occupied

homes rather than vacation rentals.