Public nuisance fine goes up.

Tuesday night, the Santa Clarita City Council approved a plan to raise the fee for throwing a loud party. City officials claim that the growing number of complaints, close to 25 per weekend night, have impacted Sheriff’s personnel. In fact, City staff says that four patrol deputies are specifically assigned to the nuisance calls on the weekends.

Furthermore, the current $200 fine provides no funding to the City to recoup the increased public safety costs.

To combat that problem, the City Council voted in favor of raising the fine to $390, which aims to generate appropriate funding for the Sheriff’s Department to respond to these calls.

Additionally, City staff estimates that a large number of perpetrators are minors, and the current citation system only charges the individual responsible. So the City also voted for another change to municipal code that will now allow Sheriff’s deputies to issue the citation to the actual homeowner if they are aware of the party.

Despite pleas from two community members who warned that the ordinance change is too broad and could provide opportunities for over-enforcement, the Council voted unanimously to approve the change. 

In other Council news, bicycles will now be allowed on some sidewalks, after the City and local bicyclists came to an agreement on an ordinance change. The change will legally allow for bicyclists to ride on sidewalks when no bike paths or bike lanes are available. Biking would still not be allowed on sidewalks in business districts.

Also, the Council provided some direction on the formation of a new Arts Comission. Click here to read that story.