Towson University senior Justin Patrylow had just moved into a rental house near campus last month when he invited a few friends over for a barbecue.
They were playing music “a bit louder than we usually do,” Patrylow says. But because it was a Friday afternoon, he figured no one would mind.He was wrong. Patrylow, a 21-year-old senior from Allentown, N.J., was hit with a $500 fine and the prospect of 20 hours’ community service.
That’s the penalty for violating a new Baltimore County ordinance aimed at curtailing the raucous off-campus parties Towson residents have been complaining about for years.
Enacted by the County Council in January, the Social Host–Unruly Social Gatherings ordinance applies to any gathering of four or more people in a home near Towson University or the University of Maryland Baltimore County that features “conduct that disturbs the peace.”
Source: ‘Unruly-gatherings’ law curbs wild parties in Towson – Baltimore Sun
