Newport Beach Seeks Ways to Further Reduce Balboa Cruising

To help control the growing popularity of a Balboa Peninsula shopping plaza as a hangout for teen-agers, police, retailers and property owners are considering more ways to reduce cruising in the area.

Mayor Ruthelyn Plummer said the City Council will also address the issue at a future study session. At last week’s meeting, council members heard renewed complaints about noise and congestion in the shopping center at 32nd Street and Balboa Boulevard.

Plummer said there needs to be more effort by the city to limit cruising. Among other things, City Manager Robert L. Wynn said, the city has asked Carl’s Jr., the anchor restaurant in the plaza, to shorten its weekend hours. The request is being evaluated by restaurant management.

Discussions between the city and business owners about the problem have been ongoing, said Sgt. Andy Gonis, a police spokesman, who added that the Police Department is “dealing with the problem as best we can.”

Currently, barricades are erected at the shopping center’s parking lot every Friday and Saturday night, and a private security firm has been hired to control access to the plaza.

Police regularly patrol the lot, issuing citations for curfew and alcohol violations. Gonis said the department receives an average of two calls a week about noise disturbances in the area.

Wynn said that two years ago a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant limited its walk-in hours on the weekend to deter teen-agers from congregating near the intersection of West Coast Highway and Balboa Boulevard.