As Brande Kauffman stepped onto her neighbors' porch and lifted her shoe to move forward, the sole of her shoe stuck to the sugary film that covered the landing.

"Have you ever smelled a bar after a whole night's drinks have been spilled on it? It smelled like that," said Kauffman, Norman resident and OU alumna.

Kauffman was going to knock on her neighbor's door and confront them about their nuisance house.

After nearly six months, questions still remain about the effectiveness and implementation Norman's nuisance party ordinance.

Those questions include the effect of the ordinance on nuisance apartments, the notification of landlords and the relationship between nuisance parties and OU's alcohol policy.

Last August, Norman City Council approved the ordinance in an effort to crack down on loud parties in the city's residential neighborhoods.

Gary Schmidt, Norman Police crime analyst, said 42 residences were cited for nuisance parties between August and the end of December.

If police arrive at the scene of a social gathering and can see three violations from a list of city statutes, then the owners of the residence can be cited for a nuisance party, according to the ordinance.

Norman Nuisances

o The owners of a residence can be cited for a nuisance party if police arrive at the scene and can see three violations.

o Violations include littering, noise-related infractions and illegal parking.

o After three nuisance party violations, residences become "nuisance properties."

o Nuisance properties can be subject to other penalties besides fines.

The list includes violations that would be related to a loud party or a nuisance property. Police do not need to cite the three related violations, which include noise-related infractions, littering, outraging public decency and illegal parking, in order to issue a citation for a nuisance party.

After three nuisance party violations, a residence would be declared a "nuisance property" and be subject to other penalties, such as the discontinuation of water service.

Kauffman, who lives only a block from campus, said her neighbors' lawn was littered with broken beer bottles and thousands of cigarette butts. All of the furniture from the porch had been thrown off the porch and lay strewn across the lawn.

The nuisance party ordinance has not improved the noise situation, because her neighbors still throw parties throughout the week, Kauffman said. They had received a nuisance party violation before.

"You can only scream at them so much," Kauffman said.

Norman City Councilwoman Cindy Rosenthal said she believed that the ordinance has affected raucous parties in Norman.

"It seems to be working fairly well. We don't have any repeat violations," Rosenthal said. "The end result in my opinion is to encourage and reinforce strong neighborhood norms."

While the ordinance may be directed at reinforcing Norman's neighborhoods, this may not be the center of the problem.

Norman police received 18 loud party calls for the Campus Lodge, 1800 Beaumont Drive, and 15 calls for The Reserve, 730 Stinson St., since last June. But those two complexes have received only one nuisance party citation. No individual house has more than five calls in the same time period.

Norman City Councilman Doug Cubberley has four of apartment complexes geared toward students within his ward.

"Noise in apartment houses is a different noise enforcement issue that is not necessarily addressed by the nuisance house ordinance," Cubberley said.

The noise complaints can come from neighborhoods nearby the complex and other students within the complex. People who call to complain have difficulty pinpointing the exact location and nature of the party.

Rosenthal said that these apartment complexes foster an environment conducive to college parties.

"I personally feel like that's that where we want students to party, in those kinds of settings," Rosenthal said. "They're close to home and they're in an environment where the rest of the population may have similar standards and norms."

Cubberley said the nuisance house committee will look at apartment issues at future meetings and may make a recommendation.

After a ruling has been made for a nuisance party citation, the ordinance states that the owner of the property will be sent a letter of notification of the violation.

Norman City Attorney Rick Knighton said the letter could pose a problem for the tenant-owner relationship. No letters have been sent to the owners of properties which have been host to nuisance parties.

Rosenthal said that the letter is a matter of public information and that owners should be aware of the status of their property.

"It somehow puts the city in the middle of the landlord renter relationship and their argument is that the city shouldn't be doing that," Rosenthal said.

Nuisance party violations could also affect students under OU President David L. Boren's alcohol policy.

Clarke Stroud, vice president for student affairs, said the primary consideration would be whether or not the nuisance party citation involved alcohol.

"We look at each individual case and decide," Stroud said. "It would depend up on the nature of the offense."

Stroud said no strikes have been issued to an OU student for a nuisance party citation.

Knighton said generally ordinances punish the conduct of the person violating the law and not the agent of a residence where the law was violated.

"It has the potential to ensnare some people who were not involved," Knighton said.

Former OU student Philip Larson was throwing a party on December 3 at his home until the police arrived and dispersed the party-goers.

Larson paid $244 for the nuisance party citation he received. He had not heard of the ordinance until the pink slip of paper was in his hand.

"Every weekend there's a party somewhere," Larson said. "I didn't think ours would be any different."

Despite the ordinance, Kauffman continues to deal with her nuisance neighbors. She comes out in the middle of the night to see a student urinating off the porch onto the front lawn.

Kauffman said the alcohol policy has forced a lot of the fraternity members off campus and into residential areas. The things she sees remind her of the fraternity mentality she remembers from her time at OU.

"[The city council is] responding because they need students to act like adults, but some students won't because they are stupid," Kauffman said. "They want all the rights of being adults without any of the responsibilities."
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