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Council to draft changes after large off‑campus parties; police ask lower mass‑gathering threshold and removal of time window
Summary
Police and the council debated changing the town’s unruly gathering and mass‑gathering rules after repeated large parties at private homes. The chief recommended removing the 10 p.m.–6 a.m. time window and giving officers clearer authority; council asked staff to draft redline changes.
Following multiple large off‑campus parties, the council took up proposed changes to the town’s “unruly gathering” ordinance and the temporary mass‑gathering permit on Feb. 10. Police representatives asked the council to broaden enforcement tools so officers can end large, disruptive gatherings regardless of the hour and to adopt a lower threshold for required permits.
Town police and the complainant at the meeting described a recent party in which an estimated 300–350 people gathered without a permit. Police Sgt./Officer Santilli (speaking for public safety) recommended striking the ordinance’s current time restriction — which only defines an unruly gathering as 5 or more persons between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. — so officers could address disruptive gatherings that occur during the daytime. He also suggested lowering the temporary mass‑gathering permit trigger from 500 to a lower number so that large private events that have substantial public impact would require prior town review.
Council members expressed two consistent concerns: protecting ordinary social events and businesses from onerous rules while giving police the ability to address truly large, unpermitted assemblies that pose safety or traffic risks. Several members proposed distinguishing commercial events (festivals, venue rentals) from private residential gatherings, and using zoning‑based definitions so traditional, permitted business events are not caught in the same regulatory net as pop‑up student parties.
Council members directed the town solicitor and staff to prepare redlined ordinance language and to return for discussion at a future meeting; the solicitor confirmed he would draft changes and expected to return in March for council review. The council emphasized that any draft should preserve police discretion for clear criminal conduct while avoiding a low threshold that could allow neighbor disputes over small private gatherings to be treated as ordinance violations.
