Newport Beach : Complaints Spark Study on Resurrecting Curfew

Prompted by complaints from some businesses near the Balboa Pier that loitering teen-agers are driving customers away, the City Council on Monday will consider revisions to the city’s unenforced curfew law.

Youth-related traffic congestion and mischief in the area are on the rise, causing the city to take a second look at the curfew, said Newport Beach Police Department spokesman Tom Little.

“The businesses down there feel that their business isn’t as good as it should be because of the traffic congestion,” Little said. In addition, he said, police have received complaints about incidents such as one on June 14, when several youths ran across hoods and roofs of cars stopped on Balboa Boulevard.

Although Newport Beach has had an ordinance since 1949, concerns over its validity seven years ago led police to stop enforcing the curfew.

The changes to be considered Monday would create exceptions to the law prohibiting people under 18 from idling or loitering in public places between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The curfew would not apply to youths accompanied by their parents, or those who are engaged in their employment, or are attending meetings, classes, dances or “other constitutionally protected activity.”

If it is approved Monday, the ordinance will come up for a final vote July 8 and could become law 30 days later.