A new ordinance under review by Durham City Council could have consequences for off-campus student renters and landlords alike.
The Loud or Unruly Gatherings Accountability Ordinance was introduced at the April 9 Durham City Council work session by Durham Together for Resilient Youth-a community coalition working to reduce substance and alcohol abuse among young adults.
The primary purpose of the ordinance is to hold landowners accountable for their tenants and decrease the number of loud and unruly gatherings, said Wanda Boone, executive director of Durham Together for Resilient Youth.
"The ordinances that are on the books now talk about loud noises, nuisances, public drunkenness and those kinds of things," she said. "So there are no fines, there's no one who's held accountable, it just says you should not do this. This ordinance adds a piece to what exists already."
The ordinance proposes that the responsible persons for a reported loud or unruly gathering pay a $250 fine for their first offense, $500 for the second offense and $1,000 for the third and subsequent offenses within 12 months following the first violation.
The money collected from the fines would establish a fund for the prevention of underage drinking. The third offense would also result in a misdemeanor charge for the responsible party.
In addition, the responsible persons would be charged a "special security services" fee. The fee would be determined by the city to compensate for law enforcement officials responding to the complaint after the first offense. The ordinance also stated that the police may arrest anyone at the party that is in violation of the law and cited public drunkenness and disorderly conduct as examples.
Since its introduction to City Council, the ordinance has been referred to the Durham City Attorney Patrick Baker for review. The City Council will discuss the ordinance again after Baker makes his recommendations, but Baker did not specify when the review will be finalized, said City Council member Mike Woodard, Trinity '81.
The ordinance would also make loud partying and public drunkenness a more public issue rather than problems that are looked at on a case-by-case basis, said Tom Szigethy, associate dean and director of Duke's Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Center. Szigethy, who attends Durham Together for Resilient Youth meetings, said there could be stricter leases enforced on students renting houses off campus because landlords will have to pay the fees and special costs when a loud gathering is reported on their property.
The introduction of this ordinance has raised some student concerns about the extra discretion given to law enforcement officials responding to a loud gathering. At Duke Student Government's meeting last Wednesday, representatives passed a resolution against the passage of the ordinance.
Sophomore Will Passo, incoming DSG vice president for Durham and regional affairs, said DSG may also hire a lawyer next year to help them better understand the legalities of the ordinance and fight against its adoption.
Phail Wynn, Duke's vice president for Durham and regional affairs, said if there were unfair provisions in the ordinance, they should be brought up when City Council discusses it. He also noted that it is too soon to say if the University will take any action on the proposed statute.
Passo, who was present at the Durham Together for Resilient Youth meeting when the ordinance was first discussed, said Durham County Alcohol Beverage Control official Ray Richardson also spoke at the meeting about the increased authority police may have if the ordinance is passed.
"Basically, [the ABC officer] said the police does not have enough discretion arresting drunk party-goers, and the police needs more power and this ordinance will give [them] more of that," he said.
After attending the Durham Together for Resilient Youth meeting, Passo said he got the impression that the tension between Trinity Heights residents and Duke students who live in the off-East Campus neighborhood was the force behind the drafting of the ordinance.
Boone said the Trinity Heights situation did have an influence on the ordinance, but noted that Durham Together for Resilient Youth began discussing such an ordinance before the Trinity Heights issue escalated.
"We've heard concerns and complaints about loud partying or unsupervised partying over the years," she said. "And [the partying] has been from kids in high school, students who go to [North Carolina Central University] and Duke, and so it's just been a combination of all those occurrences that seem to make it make sense to introduce an ordinance that would benefit the entire community in terms of the concern."
Both Passo and sophomore Andrew Brown, outgoing DSG vice president for Durham and regional affairs, agreed that there are better ways to combat the problems that the ordinance is trying to address.
"We want to acknowledge the problem exists and treat it, but the ordinance is not the best way to approach it," Passo said.
Brown said he thinks the ordinance was specifically tailored to target college students and was a public relations move for City Council. He noted that there are already laws in place to counter issues like public drunkenness and the city should be focusing on other problems such as public safety.
Duke students can also help rally against the proposed ordinance by going to City Council meetings and showing that the University has a presence in Durham, Brown said.
But some Duke students and nearby campus landlords said they were not aware of the ordinance and hesitated to give an opinion on the proposed law until the details were more solidified.
Senior Ellis Wisely, who lives in an off-campus house, said he did not understand the purpose of the ordinance because he thought similar laws already existed for Durham.
"I don't really think that they're adding much else that wasn't already there before," he said.
The Loud or Unruly Gatherings Accountability Ordinance was originally proposed as the Social Host Ordinance-which made underage drinking a misdemeanor-through the Durham Together for Resilient Youth e-mail listserv. But because North Carolina does not have a social host requirement at the state level and local laws cannot surpass the state's, the ordinance was altered, Boone said.
The ordinance will be discussed again at Durham Together for Resilient Youth's next meeting May 12.
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