ELI SAYEGH
Staff Writer
Last week, Malibu legislators approved an ordinance aimed at restricting celebrity beach parties and the frenzy that comes along with them.
“Parties are not banned in Malibu,” said Malibu Mayor Jeff Jennings to ABC News. “We’re allowing four major parties per property each year but any party over 100 people needs a permit from the city and we won’t be allowing places to have parties on the beach every day.”
The new law comes after an array of highly publicized celebrity parties this past summer and at the pleading of residents who have had enough.
Beach parties in Malibu have become the craze for celebrities and a subject of fascination for fans and viewers worldwide. Corporations rent out homes that are ultimately loaned out to celebrities who use them to throw parties. In exchange for the good time that celebrities enjoy, corporations advertise and distribute their products to attendees.
While many parties are localized, low-key affairs, these parties are something else. They are globally publicized events that are seen by millions of people online and in various magazines, attracting huge numbers of party-goers and paparazzi. And they occur, according to some reports, several times a week.
As long as I’ve been at Pepperdine, I’ve found it quite surreal to be in the midst of celebrities (I met Pierce Brosnan on my birthday!). Mention to a friend that you attend school in Malibu and it will almost always spark an image of the beach, celebrities and glamour. It is somehow a thrill to be in the midst of it all, thanks to pop culture.
In the same breath, life is never merely fun and games. The newly passed ordinance gained steam on the heels of residents who were in no mood to party. Instead, they complained about traffic nightmares and loud noise during all hours of the day.
“Imagine parties every night until 4 in the morning when you’re trying to sleep just eight feet away in the house next door,” said Councilman Andy Stern, who sponsored the new ordinance, to the same ABC News reporter. “These weren’t just people having a good time; they were commercial enterprises in residential areas that would be operating 24/7 during the summer months.”
Renny Shapiro, who lives next door to the home dubbed the Polaroid House, which was one of these rented houses, said the parties cast a negative light on the Malibu community.
“It’s harming our reputation, and broadcasting around the world that we are a party location,” Shapiro said. “That’s not what our neighborhoods are about. I think our town is much better than what they’re putting out there.”
This is a sentiment shared by many residents of Malibu. Although no one will argue that Malibu is a perfectly average town, nevertheless it isn’t a population of 13,000-something celebrities. It is overwhelmingly a collection of people who want to lead normal, controlled lives. They are entitled to this.
Although you would hope that everyone in Malibu be treated equally and that there would be no need for a course of action like this one, Malibu is simply a unique place. The presence of so many different types of people requires a balancing act between them all.
My main qualm with this ordinance is that I tend to favor the hands-off approach at different levels of government. If you can achieve a goal or remedy a problem without passing a mandate, then all the better.
In this way, I wonder why the ordinance was necessary. If these beach parties were particularly out of control, then why weren’t they held to a reasonable level like any other party would be? Rather than creating a law which specifically addresses celebrity parties, wouldn’t it be better to reform the existing laws that regulate parties or, better yet, ensure that these laws are enforced more strictly?
Regardless, it is a good move for the people of Malibu, and the reaction thus far has been overwhelmingly positive. While this news may disappoint those who enthusiastically follow the summertime action, the bottom line is that the party always goes on – even if it isn’t in Malibu next time.
03-27-2008
