HUNTINGTON BEACH : People Plan Parties; Police Also Prepare

Sipping on a Budweiser at a friend’s home early Wednesday evening, Eric Reinhart was priming to party this Fourth of July. So were a few of his friends who live in the downtown area.

One friend, Rob, who asked that his last name not be used, plans to hold a big Independence Day bash complete with a live band and kegs of beer.

“We’re going to rage on,” said Rob, 27.

Roommate Pam Shader, 24, added: “The whole street is a party.”

Locals said they plan to have parties despite a new city ordinance that clamps down on large, loud and disruptive gatherings. The ordinance states that if police make a second response to a large party or event on private property within 30 days, the owner, renter or party organizer can be fined up to $1,000.

The law was necessary because the parties are a drain on police staffing and resources and leave other areas of the city without police protection, officials said.

“What happens is a group of young people rent an apartment or cottage, then it becomes a party house and lots of people come and go and they create problems,” said Police Chief Ronald E. Lowenberg.

Reinhart, 26, said the law’s penalty is too stiff but, “I think it will make people aware and calm down.”

Lowenberg said his department has identified areas downtown where there might be trouble this holiday weekend and houses where people are likely to have big parties.

These areas include the area of 7th Street and Olive Avenue--the scene of a party last Fourth of July that raged out of control as hundreds of people helped burn a bonfire of lawn furniture and sofas. Police in riot gear broke up the large crowd. Other targeted party areas are 8th Street and Pecan Avenue and 11th Street and Orange Avenue, Lowenberg said.

Some residents said that the people who create the problems are usually from out of town and that many people who live downtown host responsible parties.

“Everybody wants to have fun, but there’s a limit to going overboard,” said Dave Alldredge, 28, who also lives downtown. “It’s usually the people who don’t live here that come down here and make the trouble.”

Christi Wensevic, 23, who lives on 7th Street, said she is nervous about parties getting out of control this weekend.

“Last year, it was crazy. I was scared,” she said. Vandals smashed car windows and dented doors, she said. Wensevic plans to take her car to her parents’ home this year for safekeeping.

Her neighbor, Angie Smolinski, 29, also is hoping for a safe holiday and plans to have a few friends over for a quiet celebration.

“We’re not looking forward to it,” Smolinski said of the anticipated crowds. “I’m all for the police doing what they have to do.”