Mansfield City Council considers cruising violations to improve Miracle Mile safety
Mansfield City Council is considering a crackdown on cruising on the Miracle Mile.
Members held to caucus only at their Wednesday meeting a bill that would prohibit cruising in a defined designated area.
The designated area would be bound by Home Road on the west, Trimble Road on the east, Park Avenue West on the south and West Fourth Street on the north, the so-called Miracle Mile.
Cruising would be prohibited from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday into Saturday and Saturday into Sunday.
Police would set up a traffic control point on a street within the designated area during the designated hours for enforcement.
According to the bill, cruising would be defined as driving a motor vehicle on a street past a traffic control point more than two times in any 2-hour period. The passing of a control point a third time would constitute "unnecessary repetitive" driving and be a violation.
The person having control or ownership of the vehicle would be the person considered cruising without regard to whether that person was actually driving the vehicle past the traffic control point.
People charged with cruising would face misdemeanors
First-time violators would be charged with a minor misdemeanor. A second offense within a year of the first would be a fourth-degree misdemeanor, and each subsequent offense within a year of the first would be a third-degree misdemeanor.
Those convicted of a third-degree misdemeanor could receive up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
The Miracle Mile has been a haven for cruisers since the 1950s and 1960s. What was once innocent fun for teenagers has taken a darker turn.
"What we found last year, the big problem was motorcycles and drag races," said Jason Bammann, who will be sworn in Friday as Mansfield's new police chief.
Last year, then-Chief Keith Porch described motorcyclists driving more than 100 mph and trying to provoke officers to chase them, along with "blatant street races."
In July, a 22-year-old Ontario man was killed when his motorcycle struck a pickup as the driver was leaving a parking lot. Police estimated the motorcyclist was driving about 65 mph when he struck the truck. The speed limit on Park Avenue West is 35 mph.
"It's a dangerous situation," Bammann said Wednesday.
He said another issue has been an influx of people from Cleveland and Columbus who see promotions on social media and come to Mansfield.
In previous decades, cruising on the Miracle Mile reflected a more innocent time.
Council members hear concerns from residents
"Some people are not happy with the proposal," Councilman Aurelio Diaz said. "They feel we're taking away a tradition."
Bammann, who said he may have taken part in cruising in his younger days, said times have changed.
"It was a different crowd then," he said. "The people were out there to socialize. This crowd is there to wreak havoc."
Councilman Stephanie Zader said she, too, spent a lot of time on the Miracle Mile back in the day.
"I get the tradition, but we have to keep our children safe," she said.
Safety isn't the only issue. Noise is another.
"This is going on until 3 a.m. The neighborhood is not happy with it," Councilman David Falquette said.
In September, Porch updated council about activity on the Miracle Mile.
He left two ordinances with the law director's office, one for cruising, the other for loitering. Then-Safety Service Director Dave Remy expressed concerns.
"One of them is clearly feasible," Remy said in September of the cruising ordinance. "The other one was to address loitering. Loitering brings up constitutional issues. We have to be very careful how we enact a loitering statute of any kind."
Remy proposed implementing only the cruising ordinance. The matter did not come up again until Wednesday.
"It kind of got dropped, but thank you for bringing this back," Zader told Bammann and Porch.
Bammann said Mansfield police are modeling their proposal after one implemented by the city of Wooster, which has experienced similar issues.
"This had a profound effect," he said.
Before Bammann addressed council, Porch provided members and reporters with a heat map showing police activity on the Miracle Mile from 2021 to present.
Mansfield police have handled 1,929 incidents in that span. There have been 181 crashes, including two fatalities.
The heat map showed that activity greatly increased from 8 p.m. until midnight Friday and Saturday. There were 191 calls in the 10 p.m. hour on Fridays in the three-year-plus span and 204 such calls in the same time frame on Saturdays.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: City Council in Mansfield OH talks regulation of Miracle Mile cruising
