No loitering rule to be toughened in Lynn

LYNN – A 24/7 loitering ordinance may soon be in effect that would aim to protect school kids from reported gang members wandering onto school property looking for trouble.The Ordinance Committee unanimously approved the amendment to the current loitering ordinance on Tuesday that will now travel to the City Council for a public hearing and a home rule petition.Under the proposed amendment, loitering would be prohibited within 1,000 feet of a school zone in the city and after 10 p.m.Any person found in violation of the amendment could be arrested without warrant and face a fine of $300 for each offense and serve 50 hours of community service.Reported gang activity and gang recruitment of young students at Thurgood Marshall Middle School prompted principal Richard Cowdell to contact Ward 3 City Councilor Darren Cyr to amend the current ordinance.”We’ve been having ongoing difficulties with kids hanging around outside of Marshall around dismissal time and it has been a major attraction to kids leaving school and a major distraction to us,” he said. “Darren Cyr has been very receptive to the idea and has really helped us out.”School Committee member Maria Carrasco also said she is in favor of the amendment and said it would help protect students from harm.”We really need to pay more attention to the 2 and 3 o’clock hour, the time when kids are waiting for students to get out of school,” she said.Cyr, chair of the Ordinance Committee, said he hopes to have the ordinance passed before the summer months and said it would give police another tool to curb undesirables from hanging around local schools.Originally proposed to be in place 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after school, Cyr amended it to 24 hours a day, seven days a week to make sure school grounds are protected.Assistant city solicitor James Lamanna previously said the current loitering ordinance applies to anyone acting unreasonably or endangering pedestrians or motor vehicle traffic on streets, sidewalks, schoolyards, parks, playgrounds, or any other public place.If approved by the City Council, the ordinance would take effect 31 days after its final approval.