Cape council gives initial approval to law aimed at 'nuisance' parties

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been changed to correct the penalties in the Cape ordinance from up to six months in jail to up to 90 days in jail.

A new law that takes aim at so-called "nuisance" parties in Cape Girardeau was given first-round approval by city leaders Monday night, but the group pushing for it called it "toothless" until landlords are also held responsible.

Cape Girardeau City Council members, however, countered that the law is just a start and that a program in the works that would mean two ordinances on the books to help bring peace to their neighborhoods.

"This is not a weak substitute," council member Kathy Swan said. "This is an interim strategy."

The council, which had three members absent, approved the ordinance 4-0 at its regular 7 p.m. meeting. The council is scheduled to vote on the matter again at its June 20 meeting. If it passes then, the law would take effect June 30.

The law, modeled on one in Columbia, Mo., defines a "nuisance" party as a social gathering of 10 or more people on residential property, where any of a list of 11 things occurs, including fighting, property damage, littering, outdoor urination, unlawful sale or possession of alcohol, trespassing and indecent exposure.

The law also allows police to cite the host of the parties -- which police say are largely college parties -- as well as order party-goers to disperse, a power police do not have now.

But residents initially told the council that because the law does nothing to landlords, it does not go far enough.

"There need to be some additions to give that ordinance some teeth," said Dub Suedekum, a spokesman for a group of residents. "I think this is a toothless document."

A part of the Columbia ordinance not included here requires landlords be given certificates that allow them to rent property. If they receive as many as three violations because of nuisance parties in one year, they can lose that certificate and face fines up to $4,000.

Mayor Harry Rediger told the group the council is working on a rental inspection program that would require landlords to pay for annual licenses. Those licenses would subject a landlord's property to routine inspections and that such an ordinance would also hold landlords responsible if these parties are allowed to continue.

City staff are working on such a proposal, but council members said Monday they wanted to enact the ordinance first to address neighborhood concerns. Rediger called this ordinance an "interim" step. City staff plans to host a public meeting with the area's landlords 7 p.m. June 23 at the Osage Centre.

Rediger worried, however, that "good landlords" would be punished by such a law and said he wants any new ordinance to be mindful of that. It was also pointed out that such a law could also be used by landlords to ask for inspections to enable them to more quickly evict troublesome tenants.

"I agree that landlords should be involved," Rediger said. "But I think this ordinance as it is has teeth."

Residents said later they were satisfied that if such a rental inspection program is enacted, it could go a long way in addressing their concerns.

Violations to Cape Girardeau's party ordinance would carry a maximum fine of $500 and 90 days in jail, which was the first point of contention at the study session Monday. In Columbia, fines can be levied up to $2,000 and six months in jail.

But city attorney Eric Cunningham said that, in his opinion, $500 and 90 days in jail is the maximum the state will allow.

"My legal opinion is that we can't do that, period," Cunningham said, of pushing up the range of punishment.

Cunningham, who drafted the ordinance with input from police chief Carl Kinnison, spoke with Columbia city attorney Fred Boeckmann last week and Boeckmann gave a differing view. Boeckmann, the former city attorney for Cape Girardeau, told Cunningham that because state statutes don't limit Columbia specifically, they are free to enact punishments as high as they want.

Cunningham disagrees. The state statutes authorizes cities to enact fines only up to $500 and 90 days in jail. In cities around St. Louis and Kansas City, there are exceptions in the law to authorize fines to reach $1,000, he said.

"But nothing authorizes us to have a fine that high," Cunningham said. "Columbia takes a position that nothing limits them so they can do whatever they want. I do not take that position."

The group wanted fines to mirror those in Columbia, but they said after the meeting that they accepted Cunningham's explanation.

smoyers@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO