SAN MARCOS - Hoping to dial down the volume of neighborhood complaints, the City Council on Tuesday approved changes to a noise ordinance that could help keep rowdy college-age residents in line.

Changes to the San Marcos municipal code included adding "late night disturbances" to the list of punishable offenses and, after a written warning has been issued to them, holding property owners and managers responsible for their tenants' continued noisy behavior.

City Manager Paul Malone supported the city attorney's suggested revisions to the noise ordinance.

"I've been here 27 years, it was updated once," Malone told the council. "You essentially have the county noise ordinance as it existed in 1973. Š It's badly in need of an overhaul."

Stricter nuisance ordinances - and stricter enforcement of them - were suggested in January as an alternative to a proposed "rooming house" ordinance that would have limited how many leases would be allowed per home in some residential areas.

The rooming house proposal stemmed from complaints about unsupervised students living together in family oriented neighborhoods. It was temporarily tabled to let a student-community relations commission weigh in on the issue of so-called mini-dorms, which have become a hot topic as enrollment increases at Cal Sate San Marcos and Palomar College.

Steve Slane, a resident of the Coronado Ranch condominium complex near the university, spoke Tuesday in support of a stricter noise ordinance.

"This is more than a couple of guys getting wild over a few beers," Slane said, describing fistfights, costly property damage and illicit behavior by young people in his neighborhood.

Trying to "integrate" with students isn't enough to stop the problem, he said.

"You get bit by a bear, you don't want to integrate."

But Slane and other residents of gated communities may have more hoops to jump through before the strengthened noise ordinance can be enforced on their property.

City Attorney Helen Holmes Peak said such communities are considered private property and the city does not have automatic authority to enforce its municipal code there.

The Coronado Ranch homeowners association could make a blanket agreement to allow authorities on the premises, Holmes Peak said, though that would also have to pass muster with San Diego County attorneys because San Marcos contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police service.

Holmes Peak said calls for police service have been challenged at San Marcos complexes when some residents challenged whether deputies were actually invited in.

"If there's cooperation amongst the residents, that's not as much of a problem," Peak said.

Councilman Chris Orlando said revising the noise ordinance was not a solution but was a step in the right direction.

"We need to focus on behavior and I think this is a good first step of focusing on behavior," he said. " … We're not done yet."

Councilman Hal Martin said he was concerned that the three policing agencies - the Sheriff's Department and both school security forces - needed to be working together more than they are now.

Mayor Jim Desmond also called for cooperation and encouraged residents to attend the next council meeting when appointments will be made the new Student and Neighborhood Relations Commission.

"We all like the fact that we've got the educational institutions here in town and we all need to work together and live together peacefully," he said.

- Contact staff writer Colleen Mensching at (760) 739-6675 or cmensching@nctimes.com.