Students living in off-campus housing in Brunswick may think twice before cranking up the bass at the next party they host.
On Monday, the Brunswick Town Council passed the Disorderly House Ordinance at its bi-weekly meeting. Though the ordinance fines landlords?not residents?of houses that repeatedly engage in disorderly conduct, it has implications for Bowdoin students living in off-campus housing.
According to District 6 councilor Margot Knight, who has been working on the ordinance with District 4 councilor Karen Klatt, the town council has attempted to find various solutions to the problem of disorderly houses for the last year.
On Monday, Knight told the council that the purpose of the ordinance was to "establish a process to address chronic unlawful or nuisance activity" through a process of "communication and remediation, and only if that fails, on monetary penalties."
Under the ordinance, landlords are held responsible for any disorderly conduct occurring within their residence, unless the landlords and their tenants come to some other agreement within their leases. If two or more events of disturbance occur within 60 days, or if five or more occur within a year, the Brunswick Police Department can classify the house as disorderly and issue the landlord a fine between $500 and $1,000.
Bowdoin and "any institution with a full-time security department" will fall under the umbrella of the ordinance. All institutions will have to "prove to the Chief of Police's satisfaction that they have a mechanism in place to administer and respond to complaints," Knight said when addressing the council.
One amendment during the meeting changed the language so that the police chief "may" refer complaints to the College instead of "shall," leaving the decision to report disorderly conduct to Brunswick Chief of Police Richard Rizzo.
Jeff Matthews, owner of 16-18 Oak St., questioned whether Bowdoin Security holds all of its students responsible for their actions on and off campus. Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols responded that the College holds all of its students accountable through an internal disciplinary system, regardless of where they live.
Resident of 17 Cleaveland St. Nicholas Norton '09 had not yet heard of the ordinance.
"It seems strange that we have not even been informed about this," said Norton. "I would like to be informed in the future, even if the ordinance does mostly pertain [to] the landlords."
According to Cleaveland St. resident and Associate Professor of Film Studies Tricia Welsch, the 12 student residents of 17 Cleaveland St. this year are "quiet and respectful." Welsch found that last years' students, however, were rowdier and often disruptive. Welsch said that she and other neighbors pushing for a change in the ordinance hope for legislation that will not only minimize disturbance but also protect the historic houses within Brunswick.
"We worry that houses which for many years have been single-family dwellings and are historic homes, will be run down," said Welsch. "These houses are not meant to hold tons of people?they should be preserved and cared for."
According to Welsch, she and other neighbors on Cleaveland St. first initiated an effort last fall to limit the number of residents who could live together in single-unit dwelling. The move would have qualified 17 Cleaveland St., which housed 11 Bowdoin students last year, as a boarding house and placed it in violation of District TR2's zoning laws. Though this ordinance did not pass, the Town Council conducted research about similar disorderly housing ordinances in other towns before proposing a new ordinance in June. The new ordinance was finally approved on Monday night by a 5-4 vote.
Councilor-at-Large Joanne King opposed the ordinance because the "whole burden ends up being on the landlords, and that is quite difficult to approve within this economy."
District Three Councilor Hallie Daughtry also voted against the ordinance on similar grounds, claiming that it placed undue pressure on the property owners.
"I would feel more comfortable if the person disturbing the peace were held more responsible than the property owner," said Daughtry. "It seems too convoluted to address the landlords instead of cutting to the chase."
Anthony Seretakis, who co-owns 17 Cleaveland St. with his brother, also disagrees strongly with the ordinance.
"I don't think it's fair to hold the landlord completely responsible for paying any potential fines," said Seretakis. "I think the tenant should be at least 50 percent responsible for the fine. Ultimately, this piece of legislation discourages me from making any [further] investments in this town."
Many residents in Brunswick, however, were happy to see the ordinance pass.
"I had an incident this past weekend with a disorderly house on School Street," said Cliff Fisher, who has lived on School St. for 12 years. "It is nice to know that this ordinance will provide some better way to address disruption."
Bev Bevilacqua, who lives on the corner of Federal St. and Cleaveland St., is also pleased that the ordinance has passed.
"I get all sorts of noise on weekends from students walking from campus to their residences at Stowe Inn," said Bevilacqua. "They come and go so fast that by the time I notify the police, they're gone. There simply must be some way to hold somebody accountable."
According to Knight, the town of Orono enacted a similar ordinance more than two years ago, and since the ordinance was passed "the complaints about noise and disorderly conduct have plummeted." She also said that the Chief of Police has yet to fine a property owner.
Norton said that this year's residents of 17 Cleaveland St. hope to avoid ever being affected by the ordinance by being proactive and conscientious neighbors.
"Certain individuals have said, 'If you make noise, we will call the police,' and we understand that," said Norton. "I feel very optimistic about the situation and our ability to avoid any sort of conflict this year."
This article was corrected on October 26, 2008.