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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/9/2024 Item 6a, Rowley From:Sandra Rowley < To:E-mail Council Website Subject:Item 6a, Amending Safety Enhancement Zones This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond. Residents for Quality Neighborhoods Dear Mayor Stewart and Members of the Council, We recommend approval to the expansion of the Safety Enhancement Zones (SEZ) for St. Fratty’s Day and Halloweekend. These recommendations do not target any individual or group. They apply equally to anyone who violates the specified Municipal Codes during the stated time period; they do not apply to those who are not engaging in these actions. As occurred with Mardi Gras, we are concerned that St Fratty’s Day and Halloween will become even more troublesome unless you begin taking steps now. Safety Enhancement Zone History This is not the first time that expansion of the St Fratty’s Day Safety Enhancement Zone (SEZ) has been recommended by SLOPD; its expansion was recommended in 2017. However it was denied with a 4-1 vote of the Council - none of whom lived in the area where these annual disruptions occur. Had that recommendation been approved residents might not still be experiencing a rude awakening at 4am when the first of many fireworks is set off, or the hours-long inability to use neighborhood streets and sidewalks, the loud, incessant noise that begins around 4:30am and lasts until around 10:30am or the chaos that occurs. And maybe we wouldn’t have the addition of out-of-town revelers also participating. This is the first expansion recommended for Halloween. Hopefully you will approve it too, before it also becomes difficult to control. Outreach SLOPD has conducted extensive outreach over the past several years using print and other media as well as personal contact with students and student organizations as outlined in this and previous staff reports. Although helpful in getting the word out, these actions by themselves have not produced the expected safe and orderly parties. However, on those occasions when the City added a designated SEZ period along with outreach, education and enforcement, positive results did occur. Fireworks Per the Municipal Code, fireworks are not allowed within the city. The 4:00am fireworks signaling the start of St. Fratty’s Day are not just illegal, they disrupt the sleep of residents for at least a mile beyond the point of origin - and pose a fire danger. Since violators are difficult to catch, this behavior has increased. Thus, it is up to the people involved to recognize the impact on others - and stop doing it. Although the Cal Poly campus is in the county, it would serve as a role model if Cal Poly ceased including fireworks for their own events and also messaged their students to do the same. Reckless Behaviors Drinking on, standing on, dancing on, jumping from roofs. Climbing utility poles. Last year there was even a guy who leaned over and grabbed the cable wire so he could do pull-ups for the crowd. So we make it harder for linemen to do their work because a few college students won’t stay off the utility poles. And, of course, there is underage drinking, binge drinking and alcohol poisonings that occur. 1 Nuisance Behaviors Partiers relieving themselves in neighbors’ yards - and elsewhere. Vomiting. Broken glass. And trash, lots of trash, left for others to pick up. The occasional property damage. And, of course, the noise. Blocked Streets By all accounts (SLOPD and the news media) there were far fewer St. Fratty’s Day participants in 2015 when the garage roof collapsed than there were in 2023. However, as mentioned in the staff report, initial access to the injured was delayed due to responding units encountering heavy foot traffic and crowds in the area. In other words, their ingress was impeded by the throngs of people in the street. In 2023 many streets in AltaVista were totally blocked with partiers. Some residents were actually unable to leave their homes. Fortunately for all ages, there were no serious accidents, injuries or illnesses affected because an ambulance was impeded trying to get through. No fires requiring the Fire Department. Underage Drinking The freshmen dorms empty out on weekends - and for St. Fratty’s Day - heading for the various parties being held in the Alta Vista/Monterey Heights areas. These are of course 18 and 19 year-olds. At the least, they should be encouraged to attend other venues of entertainment other than parties in the neighborhoods. Noise Illegal bands or DJ’s with amplified music. Voices of groups of people walking down the street yelling to each other, going from party to party late into the night. Voices from partiers inside and outside of neighboring houses. Car doors slamming. Groups of people treating neighborhoods as if they were a downtown entertainment district. Cal Poly After the 2015 St. Fratty’s Day roof collapse President Armstrong wrote the following to City leadership: “My goal, in true Cal Poly fashion, is to work collaboratively with you to become the best city and university team in the country for neighborhood relations. If we continue to work together, I know we can achieve it.” Obviously working together is what we need. Although the recommendations you are receiving from SLOPD are a very good start, the City and its residents cannot do this alone. Cal Poly’s Greek organizations published Party Registration Policy and Guidelines in 2014 - that applies to both main and satellite houses; this is the latest version on the internet. Article XVI Paragraph D says, among other things: “In addition to these guidelines, all chapters must adhere to all university and city laws and regulations. (Emphasis added) Document reference: https://content-calpoly- edu.s3.amazonaws.com/deanofstudents/1/documents/greek/Party%20Registration%20Policy.pdf Recommendations 1. Approve SLOPD’s recommendation to expand the SEZ for both St. Fratty’s Day and Halloweekend. 2. Emphasize that there is no “right to party” and that “having fun” does not mean ignoring the adverse impacts on others. 3. Encourage Cal Poly to take action against those fraternities, including the satellite houses, that have not been adhering to their Party Registration Policy and Guidelines. 4. Include representatives from the affected residential areas in any meetings between the City and Cal Poly regarding proposed mitigation measures. Thank you for your attention to this serious, on-going problem. Sincerely, Sandra Rowley Chairperson, RQN 2