Newport Beach : Council Expected to OK Permanent Curfew

City officials on Monday plan to write what they hope will be the final chapter in the saga of Newport Beach’s curfew ordinance, intended to clear the streets of loitering youths after 10 p.m.

Monday’s meeting will mark the fourth time the City Council has assembled to vote on the measure, which business owners and residents of the Balboa Peninsula say is needed to stem a tide of youthful rowdiness.

At its June 24 meeting, the council tentatively approved a 10 p.m. curfew, but two weeks later opted to adopt an emergency 11 p.m. curfew that would last until a permanent curfew law could become effective.

Two weeks later, on July 22, a divided council again reversed itself and scrapped a permanent 11 p.m. curfew, voting instead to again grant tentative approval to a 10 p.m. ordinance.

Because Newport Beach’s city charter requires that all ordinances remain unaltered for two readings before becoming law, the 10 p.m. curfew requires a final vote Monday.

If approved, the ordinance will take effect Sept. 12. The 11 p.m. emergency curfew will remain in effect until then.

Although Newport Beach has had a curfew law since 1949, it fell into disuse in the late 1970s because of concerns that it was unconstitutional. According to City Atty. Robert Burnham, the new curfew ordinance would alleviate those concerns by establishing broad constitutionally guaranteed exceptions to the law.

Minors whose jobs require them to be out past 10 p.m. and those who are out at their parents’ direction would be exempt form the curfew.