The Town Council finds as follows:
(A) The town, pursuant to the powers delegated to it by the California Constitution, has the authority to enact laws that promote the public health, safety and general welfare of its residents;
(B) The occurrence of loud or unruly gatherings on private property where alcoholic beverages and/or controlled substances are served to, consumed by, or in the possession of underage persons is harmful to the underage persons themselves and is a threat to the public health, safety, or quiet enjoyment of residential property and the general welfare;
(C) The town, through the Police Department, has made numerous and substantial efforts to enforce underage drinking and controlled substance laws; yet, despite these efforts, alcohol and controlled substance use by youth remains a serious problem in the town, contributing significantly to the incidence of adolescent crime, addiction, sexual assault, truancy, driving under the influence, and motor vehicle crashes involving alcohol and/or controlled substances and causing injury and/or death;
(D) Underage persons often obtain alcoholic beverages and/or controlled substances at gatherings held at private residences or at rented residential and commercial premises that are under the control of a person who knows or should know of the service to, possession by, and/or consumption of alcohol and/or controlled substances by underage persons. The town wishes to prevent occurrences wherein persons responsible for loud or unruly gatherings on private property over which they have possession or control have failed to ensure that alcoholic beverages and/or controlled substances are not served to, consumed by or possessed by underage persons at these gatherings;
(E) The town further wishes to encourage residents to prevent the occurrence or recurrence of loud or unruly gatherings, including those where alcoholic beverages and/or controlled substances are served to, consumed by or possessed by underage persons, on private property, which seriously disrupt neighboring residents’ quiet enjoyment of their property;
(F) Control of loud or unruly gatherings on private property where alcoholic beverages and/or controlled substances are served to, consumed by, or in the possession of underage persons is necessary when such activity is determined to be a threat to the peace, health, safety, or general welfare of the public;
(G) The occurrence of loud or unruly gatherings on party buses or limousines where alcoholic beverages, controlled substances and/or marijuana are served to, ingested by or in the possession of underage persons is harmful to the underage persons themselves and is a threat to the public health, safety, or quiet enjoyment of the streets and highways as well as other areas where a party bus or limousines drives, parks or temporarily stops;
(H) Persons held responsible for abetting or allowing loud or unruly gatherings where alcohol and/or controlled substances are served to, consumed by, or in the possession of underage persons will be more likely to properly supervise or to stop such conduct at gatherings held on property in their possession or under their control;
(I) Problems associated with loud or unruly gatherings at which alcoholic beverages and/or controlled substances are served to, consumed by, or in the possession of underage persons are difficult to prevent or deter unless the town has the legal authority to issue an administrative citation for an administrative fine;
(J) The intent of this chapter is to protect the public health, safety, quiet enjoyment of residential property, and general welfare, rather than to punish;
(K) California Business and Professions Code § 25658 makes it unlawful for a person under the age of 21 years to purchase or attempt to purchase, or consume alcoholic beverages and makes it unlawful for any person to sell any alcoholic beverage to any person under the age of 21 years;
(L) According to local, state and federal surveys, alcohol is overwhelmingly and consistently the most widely used drug at all adolescent age levels. A child who begins alcohol use prior to age 15 is four times as likely to experience alcohol dependence than one who refrains from alcohol use until age 20 or older;
(M) California Health and Safety Code §§ 11350 and 11377 make it unlawful for any person to possess enumerated controlled substance without a written prescription, with limited exceptions;
(N) Subject to certain exceptions authorized by law, California Health and Safety Code § 11357 makes it unlawful for persons under the age of 21 to possess marijuana/cannabis and marijuana/cannabis products;
(O) According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, nine out of 10 people with addiction began smoking, drinking or using other drugs before they turned 18; and
(P) Subsections (A) through (J) are equally valid to the service of, ingestion of or possession of marijuana/cannabis by underage persons. It is the finding of the Town Council that the addition of marijuana/cannabis to the prohibition outlined in § 9.28.050 is a reasonable and necessary means to protect and promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the youth and other residents of the town.
(Q) This Town Council therefore determines that this chapter is a reasonable and necessary means to protect and promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the youth and other residents of the town.
(Ord. 725, passed 11-7-2007; Am. Ord. 802, passed 8-3-2016; Am. Ord. 815, passed 1-16-2018)