(Photos: Cruise Nights in the 956 Facebook page) San Juan, Texas, a tiny town in southern Hidalgo County, has recently passed an ordinance that has not only banned cruising (actual slow driving to show off a car), but has also made it illegal to meet up in business parking lots and for business owners to allow a car meet to happen in their own parking lot. According to local paper The Monitor, the move was made in response to local businesses complaining about patrons being unable to access their stores while cruising activities were happening.
“We started receiving a lot of complaints from businesses along Raul Longoria regarding the car clubs cruising up and down Raul Longoria,” San Juan police spokesman SGT. Rolando Garcia explained. “We ended up noticing that on Thursday nights we used to have hundreds and hundreds of cars driving at 10 miles per hour up from the Expressway all the way to Owassa Road.”
The city had recently tried to step up traffic enforcement, but car clubs instead moved to business parking lots. They were asking permission from business owners to park, and businesses were allowing it, but according to Garcia, “…we want to stop that, we don’t want to encourage that. We’re going to outlaw it completely.”
Naturally, the car scene has been quick with the backlash. Chris Schneider, a 37-year-old car club promoter and cruiser who runs the “Cruise Nights in the 956” Facebook page, has been particularly open about his disdain for the council’s ruling, believing that there is more going on than just businesses complaining about losing money. According to Schneider, the police have been telling businesses and car clubs that cruising is illegal since September 2014, and have gone as far as to inform businesses that had given permission to cruisers that it was illegal to allow a cruise months before the ordinance was approved.
What do you think? We can understand issues regarding traffic, but is the city council overreaching by banning meets at businesses that have given full permission to a car club? Post your opinion below!
(Thanks to Charles Wickam for the tip!)
Do people still have the right to assemble in public in the USA anymore? Seems like no.
These guys need some place to show off their cars or it’s going to get dangerous when they start looking. I was a cruiser when I was young but we never had a problem. Now tho with drag strips closing and car shows cancelling at the same time as Detroit is pumping out beautiful high horsepower street cars something has to give. I live in LA now and we had a drag strip where you could show and race your car every Thursday night but it closes in Dec. People are already dying in street races because of it. The same officials trying to stop it should help support it. They will get the same results.
Sounds like small town politics. A small but connected group of people in town that can get the local politicians and law enforcement to do their bidding. If the cruisers are voters of this town, maybe they should start voting out the city councilmen and police chief.
Seems like the city of San Juan, Texas is run like a dictatorship, telling businesses how to run their business.
I’m sure that there is a nearby town that would welcome the car cruise and the additional revenue it would generate for the city.
There is a way to deal with this type of stupidity. Start submitting thousands of complaints to council about everything, ie, cracked sidewalks, potholes, street lights, business sign size, etc. Inundate city hall and city council meetings with complaints.
Everyone can see how far us liberty has fallen in the last few years ( don’t get me started )
Now we have parking nazis in city government banning cruises and meet ups.
“no more fun of any kind”
Being a resident in the RGV and attending cruise nights every chance I can, it is something we do as a car club. To some of us, we look forward to cruise night to spend time with our second family. I don’t think all of us should suffer from others mistakes. I understand the people burning out being banned. They are ruining everything for those who cruise peacefully and relax in a parking lot. We shouldn’t have to suffer for other’s.
a lot of what the city says is false. When we cruise we are all going close to the speed limit. It is rare that we slow down and if we do its because of a ref light or a big pothole they haven’t fixed in the last 5 years. We have tried so many times to get permission, permits, etc. to no avail. They just don’t like us. We even invite police to come ou with us and “shaporon” but theirs answer is always “We don’t have to or we can’t”. Then stop complaining when people do stulid things. We can’t control everyone out there.
Chaperone.
THIS IS RIDICULOUS CRUISE NIGHTS DOESN’T REALLY HAPPEN UNTIL 10 PM MOST BUSINESSES ARE ALREADY CLOSED BY 8 TO 9 PM
WE PAY OUR YEARLY REGISTRATIONS AND TAXES TO USE TEXAS ROADS
WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO DRIVE ANYWHERE WE WANT.
PLUS MORE PPL COMING TO CRUISE IN SAN JUAN FOR CRUISE NIGHT THERES ALOT OF DEMAND FOR FUEL FOOD SO NO ONE REALLY LOOSES BUSINESS WE GIVE SAN JUAN MORE BUSINESS
AND YOU CANT BLAME EVERYONE FOR ONE BAD APPLE
ITS LIKE COPS IF ONE DOES SOMETHING STUPID AND WRONG LIKE WHAT COMES OUT IN THE NEWS FROM TIME TO TIME DOES THAT MEAN ALL COPS SHOULD BE TREATED THE SAME WAY
NO!!!!
SO WHY MAKE IT ILLEGAL FOR PEOPLE TO TAKE OUT OUR NICE RIDES THAT TOKE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS AND HUNDRED OF MAN HOURS IN THE SUN OR THE WEEKENDS WHEN THEY ARENT AT WORK
I DANIEL GARZA STAND VERY FIRM TO TRY TO BRING THIS LAW DOWN AND CONTINUE LETTING “CRUISING” HAPPEN LIKE BACK IN THE DAYS WHERE PPL WOULDNT FIGHT BUT RESPECT AND ADMIRE OTHER RIDES
Ok so when you have an accident with another vehicle in a parking lot and call for police assistance they insist they can do nothing aside from send an officer to mediate the exchange of info if needed. Their excuse… It’s private property. Soooo aren’t these businesses on said private property? How is law enforcement now allowed to control what is done on private property if it isn’t illegal? Congregating or assembling as someone mentioned above is a constitutional right. Doubt these car meets are anything other than that. They are meeting up showing off their cars which some feel, to heart, is their expression of the artwork they created. Still don’t see how any of it is illegal. Sounds more like the city itself isn’t collecting any money or benefits from these meets so gotta do what they gotta do and shut them down.
If we set aside the constitutionality of banning people from assembling, for a moment.
They can use city ordinances to affect private property. It’s the same way the city can hold you responsible for maintaining your yard, to greater or lesser extents, in the interest of public health/safety. So even though it’s private property, and as you point out, they will be quick to tell you they cannot help you in the event of a fender bender, the city can enact a broad ordinance that will let them do what the police themselves cannot do within the normal confines of the law.
However, once we consider the fact that we have a constitutional right to assemblage, we must consider this an unlawful ordinance. There are exceptions placed on that constitutional freedom, however I do not believe that this ordinance qualifies. According to Wikipedia, there is a Time/Place/Manner restriction, which basically is used to stop people from assembling in such a way as to drastically hinder normal operation. Which from what I’m gathering here, this is not the case. These clubs have permission of the property owners to gather there (indicating that they do not pose a significant hindrance, otherwise they’d want them to leave), and as someone else pointed out, they are often meeting up during later evening hours, after many business are closed, so there is no normal operation to hinder anyway.
So really, this silly ordinance fails on a constitutional front.
Sounds like that town is run by nazis!!!
Vote these idiots out of office.
I as a previous admin of Cruise night in the 956, I totally agree… some people work very hard to fix up their rides to show them off at gatherings like this. I myself would travel nearly 2 hours just to attend these meet ups. Just because CRUISING is my passion. A lot of people look forward to the weekends to be a part of this. If store owners give us permission to cruise on their parking lots, what’s it to the cops??? On another note, to the cagapalos that always ruin it for everyone it’s so your fault!!! We’ve told ya’ll so many times.. NO REVVING NOR BURNING OUT. You thought we were kidding? See what you’ve caused… Cruising shouldn’t be banned…. Cagopalos should be prohibited to attend. Plain and simple. Yet again we can’t control what everyone does, it your own duty to RESPECT!!
I would boycott the businesses in that town.
That 1996 Viper GTS though.
So glad I moved to Oklahoma when I did. (Never thought I would EVER say that) Have the Valley politicians been hitting the peyote?
We just had our Friday Night cruise on Main Street and it takes up the entire strip!
https://youtu.be/jgdG_57Nzvs
Some old crotichty old bitty complained too many times and the city counsel was tired of listing to her bitch about it, said lady prob had a rich old hubby that has ties to the city for funding and said lady was going to cut funding !!
Pissy little wenches will bitch and bitch till they ruin everything unless we start collecting and trading there teeth like baseball cards.
“Their”…. I have got to remember to proof read dammit.
This is an ordinance that should be decided by public referendum. Put this ordinance on a ballet and allow the people who live in this town to decide if they wish to allow or ban these crusin nights. The people who live in this town, pay their property taxes, run/own and support the local businesses; the people most effected or helped by these cruise nights should be allowed to decide if they want it in their town not a couple of councilmen that think they know best for their town. Hey San Juan city council, do you have the guts to ask the people you govern what they want? Do you have the guts to put this on a public ballet? Do you really know what is best for your town?