Anaheim Measure Expected to Cool Latest Hot Spots for Young Cruisers

Cruising, a favorite pastime of America’s youth, will be forbidden in Anaheim under an ordinance that the City Council is expected to formally adopt today.

The measure was drafted after officials received complaints that between 300 and 500 young people had been gathering near the Camelot Golfland amusement park and adjacent Rockwell International Corp. on Friday and Saturday nights. Police said the youths left behind a trail of litter and oil, the oil poured on the streets and parking lots to help them perform car tricks.

The ordinance received initial approval last week when it was passed as an emergency measure at the request of Councilman Ben Bay, who is a Rockwell employee.

Although lauded by the Camelot Golfland manager, the ordinance Monday was called “odd” by an American Civil Liberties Union attorney and “ridiculous” by the owner of another business that may be affected: Angelo’s Hamburgers drive-in restaurant.

Susan Borges, an ACLU attorney, questioned the ordinance’s enforceability and said it carried a potential for civil rights abuse by apparently “singling (out) minors.”

Dennis Williams, co-owner of Angelo’s, which features old-time rock ‘n’ roll music and waitresses on roller skates, said Monday that he had not heard of the ordinance. The law specifies four sites: two affecting the Camelot Golfland area and two the region around Angelo’s.

Run-Ins With City Hall

“That’s typical of the Anaheim snake that’s against any kind of business that has been successful,” said Williams, who has had run-ins with the city concerning his business.

Under the anti-cruising ordinance, police would set up checkpoints in the designated areas and give written warnings to drivers seen a second time within two hours. Drivers who cruise by the area a third time would be subject to a citation, Anaheim Police Chief Jimmie D. Kennedy said.

A 75% reduction in the number of cruisers in the Camelot area followed initial passage of the emergency ordinance, Kennedy said. The area had “gained in popularity” the last six months and become a hangout for many teen-agers from outside Orange County, Kennedy said.

The problem got so bad, Camelot operating manager Warene Christensen said, that on “Friday and Saturday nights, we couldn’t get the families in here. They (the cruisers) were pretty well taking over.”

Angelo’s Williams said the city is “making too big a deal” about traffic problems in the area. He also questioned the law’s enforceability, as did the ACLU’s Borges.

Not Taken Stand on Issue

“That’s the most impractical law I’ve ever heard of. Are the police going to sit there and see if two hours later they (the drivers) will stop by again?” asked Borges, who said the ACLU had not taken a position on the issue.

Newport Beach has had a similar ordinance since December, 1984, but has never used it, Newport Beach Police Lt. Jim Jacobs said. In Newport Beach, driving past certain checkpoints more than once within six hours could result in a traffic citation, Jacobs said. The city adopted the ordinance in case it was needed for certain holiday periods, such as July 4, City Atty. Bob Burnham said. Last year, however, there were no cruising problems, he said.

The Anaheim ordinance also contains a provision allowing the police chief to designate any other location he deems necessary for patrol checkpoints, in addition to the four locations specified in the ordinance, which are:

- State College Boulevard between Lincoln Avenue and Wagner Street.

- Santa Ana Street between East Street and State College Boulevard.

- Shepard Street between La Palma Avenue and Carpenter Avenue.

- Carpenter Avenue from Shepard Street east to the end of Carpenter Avenue.

“These groups can move from one area to another,” Kennedy said. “It just bogs down to where you can’t even move.”

Among other cities considering ordinances to curb cruising is Pico Rivera, where an all-night hamburger eatery has become home to cruisers. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance last May to curb cruising on a stretch of Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles.

In the Northern California city of Livermore, where 16 people were arrested and 11 officers injured during a 1984 “cruise night,” the City Council adopted an anti-cruising ordinance last June, City Clerk Carol Greany said.

“We had cruising here for years, and it was just getting worse and worse,” Greany said. Since adoption of the ordinance, she said, “the cruising has stopped” in Livermore, which is 50 miles east of San Francisco.