Senate v. Town Of Narragansett, C.A. No. 08-207 S.

• Decision Date: 03 March 2010
• Docket Number: C.A. No. 08-207 S.
• Citation: 707 F.Supp.2d 282
• Parties: URI STUDENT SENATE, et al., Plaintiffs,v.TOWN OF NARRAGANSETT, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island

707 F.Supp.2d 282

URI STUDENT SENATE, et al., Plaintiffs,v.TOWN OF NARRAGANSETT, et al., Defendants.

C.A. No. 08-207 S.

United States District Court,

D. Rhode Island.

March 3, 2010.

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H. Jefferson Melish, Wakefield, RI, for Plaintiffs.

Marc Desisto, Desisto Law, Mark A. McSally, Kelly, Kelleher, Reilly & Simpson, Providence, RI, for Defendants.

AMENDED OPINION AND ORDER

WILLIAM E. SMITH, District Judge.

Each fall, students at the University of Rhode Island (“URI”) flock to the nearby town of Narragansett (the “Town”) to take advantage of its abundant seasonal housing. However, all do not welcome their presence. The Town council blames student renters for throwing rowdy parties that encourage lawbreaking, such as underage drinking and fighting. To curb this behavior, the Town passed an ordinance banning so-called “unruly gatherings”-ones at which partygoers commit unlawful acts that disturb the neighbors. Students, the URI student government, and owners of rental property in the Town (“Plaintiffs”) believe the enactment is unconstitutional and preempted by a state statute. Seeking to nullify the measure, they have brought this action against the Town, various Town officials, and the Town council (“Defendants”). Presently before the Court are the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment, which turn squarely on the question of whether the “unruly gatherings” ordinance is constitutionally valid on its face.

After holding a hearing on this matter on November 17, 2009, and considering the issues carefully, the Court concludes the Ordinance is indeed constitutional.

I. BackgroundA. The Challenged Ordinance

At bottom, this dispute springs from friction between students and year-round residents of the Town. Approximately twenty-two percent of the housing stock in the Town consists of “seasonal or vacation” rental units, attracting many students during the school year. ( See Agreed Statement of Facts, (“Facts”) ¶ 6.) The Town has long complained of quality-of-life issues resulting from high turnover and absentee landlords. Its concerns include overcrowding, property abuse, excessive traffic, noise, litter, public drunkenness, underage drinking, and fights. In the Town's view, “large gatherings of people, such as parties” are often to blame for these annoyances. ( See Narragansett, R.I. Nuisance Ordinance ch. 856, preamble (2005), Ex. A to Facts.) The gatherings “frequently become loud and unruly to the point that they constitute a threat to the peace, health, safety, or general welfare of the public.” ( Id.)

To deter such conduct, the Town enacted a nuisance ordinance targeting “unruly gatherings” in 2005 (the “Ordinance”). ( See id.) The key provisions of the current version provide as follows:

Sec. 46-31. Public nuisance.

(a) It shall be a public nuisance to conduct a gathering of five or more persons on any private property in a manner which constitutes a substantial disturbance of the quiet enjoyment of private or public property in a significant segment of a neighborhood, as a result of conduct constituting a violation of law. Illustrative of such unlawful conduct is excessive noise or traffic, obstruction of public streets by crowds or vehicles, illegal parking, public drunkenness, public urination, the service of alcohol to minors, fights, disturbances of the peace, and litter.

(b) A gathering constituting a public nuisance may be abated by all reasonable means including, but not limited to, an order requiring the gathering to be disbanded and citation and/or arrest of any law violators under any applicable ordinances and state statutes....

Sec. 46-32. Notice of unruly gathering; posting, mailing.

(a) When the police department intervenes at a gathering which constitutes a nuisance under this article, the premises at which such nuisance occurred shall be posted with a notice stating that the intervention of the police has been necessitated as a result of a public nuisance under this article caused by an event at the premises, the date of the police intervention, and that any subsequent event within the period set forth below on the same premises, which necessitates police intervention, shall result in the joint and several liability of any guests causing the public nuisance, or any persons who own or are residents of the property at which the public nuisance occurred, or who sponsored the event constituting the public nuisance as more fully set forth below. Any notice posted between September 1 and May 31 of any year shall remain posted until May 31. Any notice posted between June 1 and August 31 of any year shall remain posted until August 31.

(b) The residents and owner of such property shall be jointly responsible for ensuring that such notice is not removed or defaced and it shall be an ordinance violation carrying a penalty of a minimum, mandatory $100.00 fine in addition to any other penalties which may be due under this section if such notice is removed, obscured or defaced, provided, however, that the residents of the premises or sponsor of the event, if present, shall be consulted as to the location in which such notice is posted in order to achieve both the security of the notice and its prominent display.

Ordinance §§ 46-31-32 (2007).

The Ordinance thus empowers the Town police to break up parties that they decide are causing a “substantial disturbance of the quiet enjoyment of private or public property in a significant segment of a neighborhood.” Id. § 46-31(a). The police may only act, however, if the disturbance is a “result” of a “violation of law.” Id. The Ordinance gives a nonexhaustive list of misdemeanors that authorize police to intervene. These include “excessive noise or traffic, obstruction of public streets by crowds or vehicles, illegal parking, public drunkenness, public urination, the service of alcohol to minors, fights, disturbances of the peace, and litter.” Id.

After dispersing a gathering determined to be a nuisance, the police must then post a notice “prominently” on the premises. Id. § 46-32(a)-(b). This takes the form of a ten-by-fourteen-inch orange sticker placed on or about the front entrance. ( See Facts ¶ 21-22.) The sticker warns that any further police intervention for a nuisance violation at the same address during a designated time period will result in “joint and several liability” for sponsors of a gathering, the residents and owners of the premises, and any guests who cause the nuisance. The time period runs for the duration of the seasonal housing cycle, during which the sticker must remain in place. If posted September 1 or after, it stays until May 31; if posted after May 31, it stays until September 1. Removing or otherwise tampering with the sticker during that time carries a $100.00 fine for residents and landlords. See Ordinance § 46-32(b). Landlords also receive copies of the notice in the mail. See id. § 46-33.

Section 46-34 of the Ordinance identifies the parties who may be punished for subsequent police responses to houses bearing stickers:

Sec. 46-34. Persons liable for subsequent response to gathering constituting a public nuisance.

(a) If the police department is required to respond to a gathering constituting a public nuisance on the premises more than once in any posting periods set forth in Section 46-32(a), the following persons shall be jointly and severally liable for fines as set forth below:

(1) The person or persons who own the property where the gathering constituting the public nuisance took place, provided that notice has been mailed to the owner of the property as set forth herein and the gathering occurs at least two weeks after the mailing of such notice.

(2) The person or persons residing on or otherwise in control of the property where such gathering took place.

(3) The person or persons who organized or sponsored such gathering.

(4) All persons attending such gatherings who engage in any activity resulting in the public nuisance.

(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose liability on the resident or owners of the premises or sponsor of the gathering, for the conduct of persons who are present without the express or implied consent of the resident or sponsor, as long as the resident and sponsor have taken all steps reasonably necessary to exclude such uninvited participants from the premises, including landlords who are actively attempting to evict a tenant from the premises.

Ordinance § 46-34(a).

The effect of § 46-34 is to make landlords, residents, party sponsors, and any guests who cause a nuisance jointly and severally liable for any additional unruly gatherings at stickered houses during the same season. However, residents, owners, and sponsors may assert the defense that only “uninvited participants” engaged in illegal conduct. This requires that the resident, owner, or sponsor took “all steps reasonably necessary” to exclude such party-crashers. Id. § 46-34(a)(5). For landlords, these measures may include “active[ ]” attempts to evict a tenant. Id.¹ Finally, section 46-35 establishes the penalties for liable parties. Id. § 46-35(a). The first post-sticker police intervention at an unruly gathering during the posting period triggers a fine of $300; the second, $400; and the third, $500. See id. Violators may also receive community service for the first nuisance abatement; it is mandatory starting with the second. See id. § 46-35(b).

The Town compiles information related to enforcing the Ordinance. “Nuisance house lists” display all addresses where police have dispersed an “unruly gathering,” and show which houses have stickers during a given season. (Facts Ex. D.) The Town also maintains a “URI Stats” chart to track data on infractions specifically committed by URI students. ( See Pls.' Resp. Mem. 6.)

B. Procedural History

Plaintiffs fall into four categories: (i) individual students residing in the Town who have...