On Tuesday evening, January 28, Rohnert Park’s city council held a town meeting to discuss making noise and party laws stricter. The city is considering changing the current 120-day party ban to 180 days. This move would prohibit any properties that received violation notices from having any noise complaints for the remainder of the semester.
The noise ordinance dates back to 2005, when city council voted to approve a 60-day ban and increase penalties for repeat offenders. This was extended to 120 days with an emergency hearing in 2013.
According to the Rohnert Park police department, the city struggles to receive compliance from local residents accused of violating current noise and party restrictions.
Chief Tim Mattos and Louis Kirk of the Rohnert Park police department discussed many of the issues that occured in recent years due to constant loud parties. They reported that in 2019, they had 385 calls for service, and of those calls, 248 were from distinct properties.
Many Rohnert Park residents and Sonoma State students spoke and voiced their opinions on the issues. Residents expressed their frustration toward their neighboring student residents throwing constant loud parties and disrespecting the other residents and their properties. One resident said he has lived in the same house for the last 10 years with numerous students living next door and across the street. He stated that he made numerous calls on houses, and once their 120 day notice expires, the houses go back to partying.
Another resident of 30 years said, “the last 10 years [have] been [a] nightmare,” because of students partying daily until two or three in the morning, being disrespectful, and going into neighbors yards.
What many partygoers don’t realize is that their noise disturbances can be extremely inconsiderate to neighbors who have to wake up at early hours to commute to work, those that have younger children who need rest, or elders who are sick and battling illnesses. It isn’t easy for the families to just leave and move somewhere else because putting their houses on the market with partying neighbors actually makes it harder to sell a house and decreases the value of their home.
One resident though argued that raising these fines could push students to party in more dangerous locations. Another parent said that change takes time and that raising these fines won’t help solve anything.
Many students voiced their opinions and asked that we all work and come together as a community to solve this issue, rather than raising the fines. One student said they feel that the basis of the problem is not the parties but rather “the relationship between the neighbors and the college students,” saying that they have personally been affected by prejudiced neighbors.
Sonoma State University has seen a decline in enrollment in recent years, and one resident said that if these fines were to be raised, it could negatively affect future enrollment rates. This will impact local businesses, as college students are a significant source of revenue for the area.
Sonoma State has no jurisdiction when it comes to students living off-campus, unless their actions directly affect the school. Some council members suggested the idea of creating an area of housing that would be strictly for students. That way students could still have the “college experience,” without disturbing any of the non-student residents.
Mayor Callinan wants to emphasize the fines on the landlords, since he feels that raising student fines won’t affect the renters since most of their parents pay for everything anyway. He said that it comes down to respect and not understanding our behavior, and says he would like to see more communication between students and the police department.
