Don’t throw water balloons at people you don’t know: Huntington Beach passes pair of ordinances

The annual Huntington Beach Independence Day celebration is known as the largest west of the Mississippi River.

With that celebration comes house parties that can sometimes become unruly.

The Huntington Beach City Council unanimously passed two ordinances Tuesday night, one giving police officers more leeway when it comes to giving citations at such events, as well as another establishing emergency service access zones at Huntington City Beach and changing beach noise ordinance standards.

Ordinance No. 4317 amends Chapter 8.42 of the Huntington Beach Municipal Code, relating to the use of police services at loud parties or other activities. The code amendment expands the authority of officers to issue civil citations to people who allow or permit this behavior — in this case, to whoever holds the water billing account at the residence.

HBPD Lt. Thoby Archer said in a presentation there has been an increase in calls for service on and around the Fourth of July in recent years, with complaints of people being hit by water balloons and other objects.

Last year there were nine separate calls on the holiday for service on Alabama Street alone, requiring multiple officers to respond.

“While most of the activity is consensual, there are multiple incidents where unsuspecting or unwilling parties are walking, driving or riding bicycles down the street and they are hit by objects,” Archer said. “When this happens, it is difficult and almost impossible to identify the suspects because they‘re acting with impunity and will often retreat into a residence or a backyard and not come out.”

Beachgoers enjoy the sunshine and ocean water on the north side of the Huntington Beach Pier in 2022.

(File Photo)

At Tuesday night’s meeting, Archer showed a few minutes of body camera footage to illustrate the issue and resources needed. He said that HBPD plans a comprehensive education campaign, including water billing notifications, social media posts and hand-delivered fliers to locations that have previously engaged in the behavior.

“I think this will address what seems like a massive call for service for something that seems somewhat trivial but can really ruin somebody’s day,” Councilman Dan Kalmick said. “As one of the officers said, you can throw them at people you know, just don’t throw them at people you don’t know.”

Archer responded that he knows nobody wants to write someone a ticket for throwing a water balloon, especially on Independence Day, but it becomes a problem when people do it and then retreat to a house.

“This would just give us another tool in our toolbox,” he said.

Ordinance allows public safety personnel better access to beach

Another ordinance passed Tuesday night, Ordinance No. 4319, adds the definition of an emergency services access zone to the municipal code.

This area includes the beach service road and all public stairways, sidewalks and access ramps, along with a 14-foot wide pathway down the center of the pier. Areas in Pier Plaza located between the outermost edges of the pier, directly in front of operational lifeguard towers and lanes and zones delineated by signs and barriers are also affected.

These areas would be prohibited from laying, storing or hanging property, HBPD Lt. Brian Smith said during a presentation, and it would be a misdemeanor to obstruct emergency services access zones after being warned.

The ordinance also switches beach noise regulations to prohibit sound that is “plainly audible” 50 feet from the source of the noise, after being warned, with exemptions for permitted activities and public safety personnel performing their duties.

“If someone had an amplified device in the center of Pier Plaza, it would be audible to nearly all of those within Pier Plaza, preserving peace to the surrounding community,” Smith said. “Another example of areas impacted by noise would be the fire pits, which are approximately 50 feet apart. Users of one particular pit could have amplified music at a volume where their party could hear the music, without disturbing the peace of parties two pits away.”

The ordinance requires canopies to have two sides completely open to public view, and prohibits tents in excess of 100 square feet.

Blocking, obstructing or preventing free access to public restrooms and washrooms is also prohibited under the ordinance, as well as sleeping, loitering, camping, storing property or habituating there.