Anaheim : City Ordinance Puts the Brakes on Cruising

The City Council on Tuesday drove “cruising” out of the city limits.

Without any discussion, council members adopted an ordinance that forbids driving within the same designated area three times within two hours. The ordinance targets four streets, two near Camelot Golfland amusement park, 3200 E. Carpenter Ave., and two near Angelo’s Hamburgers drive-in restaurant, 511 S. State College Blvd.

The ordinance came in response to recent complaints about cruising near Camelot on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as past complaints of cruising problems near Angelo’s.

Under the ordinance, a police officer may give written warning upon citing a vehicle the second time in two hours and a citation following the third trip. As “cruisers” hop from one site in the city to another, the police chief may request that the ordinance be applied to other areas.

The ordinance targets these areas for patrol checkpoints:

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.

Camelot officials praised the ordinance, saying it will help dilute traffic that had made the attraction difficult for families to get to. But the ordinance drew criticism from Angelo’s co-owner Dennis Williams, who said he had not been told in advance about the new law.

Angelo’s is the site of vintage-car cruising the first Friday of every month, and police said they occasionally have had to close off streets because of heavy traffic.