It’s Warm but the Kids Play It Cool : Spring Break Crowd at Balboa Is Mellow, but Police Stay Alert

Stan Pratt has seen spring break on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach come and go so many times he is somewhat of an expert on it.

“The dudes are looking to have something started with the chicks, and the chicks are looking to get something started with the dudes,” said Pratt, who has lived on Balboa Boulevard for 22 years. “I’ve seen it every year.”

From his milk carton seat at the corner of Balboa Boulevard and Main Street, where he sells parking spaces for $5 each, Pratt watched this weekend as Newport police set up road barriers against the crowds of screaming teen-agers that each year invade the usually quiet coastal community.

“I hate when they do that,” he said of the barriers. “Every time they do that I lose business,” he said, pointing to the empty parking lot behind him. “I mean the kids are just out here to have a good time. They are not looking for any trouble.”

So far this year they haven’t found any trouble--or much, anyway, authorities said. Despite perfect temperatures of 70 to 80 degrees during the first days of spring vacation, police, who could not provide a specific number of arrests made Friday and Saturday, said crowds were relatively well behaved. But Newport Beach Lt. Paul Henisey said police weren’t ready to concede victory. The better the weather, the bigger the crowds, police said. And the weather is expected to hold steady in the 70s the rest of spring break, said Dan Bowman, a meteorologist with WeatherData.

So with half a mile of beach-crazed teen-agers in cars lining Balboa Boulevard by 9:30 in the evening, police were taking no chances.

With the help of 20 extra officers, Newport Beach police are diverting the hundreds of cruising teen-agers off the boulevard and into the Balboa Pier parking lot, where officers record their car license numbers in a computer. If the same car passes the checkpoint again within six hours, the driver is cited. Drivers also are handed cards about the six-hour rule.

By keeping traffic moving, police hope to avoid the near-riot situation they encountered last spring.

Last year, in a scene reminiscent of Palm Springs’ riots in 1986, police broke up a crowd of about 700 chanting, taunting youths in Balboa. The crowd, which witnesses said was provoked by a young woman who momentarily bared her chest, was dispersed by 30 officers from Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

“Last year things got a little out of hand, and we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Newport Beach Officer Ed Walsh said.

But then, he said, “spring break is always bad. Newport Beach is a tourist spot. We have the beach, we have the water, and we have a lot of fun stuff to do. You kind of expect it.”

Every year, the traffic and noise gets worse, Walsh said. The biggest worry police have is not being able to get emergency vehicles through to residents when traffic is jammed along the boulevard.

Some of the residents who live along the 2-mile streach of road share that fear. “I’m just worried that a fire truck or an ambulance won’t be able to get through,” said Sharen Crawford, who has lived on Balboa Boulevard with her two sons for six years.

But like some of her neighbors, Crawford sympathizes with the teen-agers. “They’re just kids, and if they are not going to be cruising on the boulevard, where else can they go?” she asked.

Although Crawford, like many of her neighbors, has complained about the noise and traffic, it is something all residents of Balboa must accept, she said. “You can’t close down the streets,” she said. “It’s a public beach.”

Alice Smith, 88, who has lived with her husband on Balboa Boulevard for more years than she can remember, said the traffic and noise are all part of living near the beach. “Sure, you get plenty of traffic and yelling and hollering,” she said. “But you learn to get used to it.

“If the young people need something to do and they are happy driving up and down the street, then that’s fine with me,” Smith said.

That was exactly what Jeff Carefoot, a 16-year-old student at Brea Linda High School, was happy to do. The bigger the crowd, he said, the “more girls.”

Carefoot also said he thought the police had the situation in hand. “They can be a hassle, but they keep things in control,” he said.

But some of the teen-agers did not appreciate the police, who patrolled the beaches with four-wheel-drive trucks and the boulevard with motorcycles. “The cops are too strict,” said Brad Sheldon, an 18-year-old Edison High School student. “There is nothing for kids to do anymore that is free.”

Helping them part with their money, was, in fact, the goal of Brian Hogan, an 11-year-old entrepreneur. Hogan and three friends set up a lemonade stand near the Balboa Ferry and sold cups of ice-cold lemonade to tourists Saturday afternoon.

“We made $40 selling this stuff,” said Hogan, who has set up his business for the past six years. “It’s easy,” he said. “All you have to do is give them that innocent little look and say, ‘Do you want some ice-cold lemonade?’ ”