{"id":1092,"date":"2026-06-03T11:11:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1092"},"modified":"2026-06-03T11:11:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:11:45","slug":"brentwood-approves-stronger-nuisance-gathering-ordinance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1092","title":{"rendered":"Brentwood approves stronger ‘nuisance gathering’ ordinance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BRENTWOOD \u2014 Residents frustrated by large and noisy gatherings \u2014 which can include fireworks, public drunkenness, indecent exposure or gunfire\u2014 could soon find relief with the passing of a new nuisance gatherings ordinance.<\/p>\n

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Under the new ordinance, a responsible party will first be given a warning, and any subsequent violation within a 12-month period will receive a fine. The first fine would be $100, the second within the one-year period would be $200, and each additional violation after that would be $500, according to a May 12 staff report.<\/p>\n

The ordinance was created to close enforcement gaps that existing nuisance regulations do not adequately address, said city officials.<\/p>\n

The existing Brentwood Municipal Code primarily focuses on nuisances linked to property maintenance and does not sufficiently address other \u201cnuisance activities\u201d that are \u201chighly disruptive\u201d and have a negative impact on public health and safety, the report noted.<\/p>\n

Among the more than 20 listed examples were indecent exposure, excessive noise or traffic, public drunkenness or unlawful drinking in public, firing of gunshots or brandishing of weapons, indecent exposure, public urination or defecation, harassment of passersby, and excessive littering.<\/p>\n

With a unanimous vote, the Brentwood City Council approved the new ordinance during its May 26 meeting, after deliberation over the use of \u201cunruly\u201d in the initial draft.<\/p>\n

Introduced on May 12 as the \u201cunlawful loud or unruly gatherings\u201d ordinance, the language received pushback from Vice Mayor Pa\u2019tanisha Pierson, who argued that terms like \u201cloud\u201d and \u201cunruly\u201d were not properly defined.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you don\u2019t define when unruly is loud to whatever decibel or whatever \u2026 it doesn\u2019t provide any distinction as to what loud and unruly is and leaves it overbroad and left up to interpretation of the enforcer of the ordinance,\u201d said Pierson during the May 12 meeting.<\/p>\n

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Following discussions, the City Council agreed to remove the word \u201cloud\u201d from the ordinance\u2019s text and voted in favor of \u201cunlawful or unruly gatherings,\u201d with Pierson dissenting.<\/p>\n

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During the May 26 meeting, Pierson raised the matter and questioned the use of \u201cunruly\u201d in the ordinance. She said she was not opposed to preventing unlawful behavior but was concerned about the language.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m against is when we have language that is not clearly defined that can impact marginalized groups,\u201d said Pierson. \u201cCertain terms of art, like \u2018unruly\u2019 versus \u2018a social nuisance,\u2019 can be used to create circumstances that can be used against marginalized groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilmember Jovita Mendoza questioned whether Pierson opposed the definition of \u201cunruly\u201d in the ordinance. Pierson said she had no issues with the definition provided, but was just against the use of the word in that context.<\/p>\n

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Mendoza said the ordinance provided definitions to guide the police department and staff in determining which activities are deemed unruly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was just unruly with no other descriptors, I would get what you\u2019re saying, but because it has it in there, I\u2019m kind of okay with it,\u201d said Mendoza.<\/p>\n

During the public comment period, resident Tracy Kasamoto said she supported the use of the word in the ordinance, adding she has witnessed \u201cunruly behaviors\u201d in her own neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what neighborhood you live in, but it must be nice, but there are some of us that don\u2019t get the privilege of having a nice neighbor,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mayor Susannah Meyer then asked whether councilmembers were agreeable to changing the ordinance title to \u201cunlawful or social nuisance,\u201d as originally proposed, while keeping the definitions.<\/p>\n

Read more Chabria: California is teetering on a health care cliff, but few are paying attention<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brentwood residents frustrated by large and noisy gatherings \u2014 which can include fireworks, public drunkenness, indecent exposure or gunfire\u2014 could soon find relief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBrentwood approves stronger ‘nuisance gathering’ ordinance - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1092\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brentwood approves stronger ‘nuisance gathering’ ordinance - 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