ORANGE, Ohio — Citing the improving weather and past issues with crowd control, Pinecrest in Orange Village today announced new guidelines that will restrict kids and teens from using the shopping center.
Beginning Friday, all Pinecrest patrons under the age of 18 must be accompanied by either a parent or guardian or adult at least 25 years old after 4 p.m. In addition, a new "Pinecrest Concierge Security Service" will greet and check all visitors at the north and south roundabouts beginning in the late afternoon, with all kids who are by themselves being turned away.
"With warmer weather in the forecast, young adults tend to gather en masse, which we have experienced in the past," Pinecrest General Manager Rob Clarke said in a statement. "That often leads to poor, disruptive behavior, which is contrary to our family shopping atmosphere."
Clarke may have been alluding to an incident from last June, when roughly 1,000 juveniles converged on Pinecrest for what was supposed to be a free outdoor movie night provided by Silverspot Cinema. The scene quickly became chaotic, and while no one was hurt and no property damage was reported, several fights broke out and police ended up dispersing the crowd with pepper spray and pepper balls.
Just two weeks ago, authorities were called back to the area to break up more fights. This time, the crowd only numbered about 100 people.
"Whether you're visiting, working, or living at Pinecrest, we take our responsibility to deliver a safe, firstclass experience very seriously," Clarke continued. "Pinecrest has a zero-tolerance safety policy. We deeply appreciate the assistance of Orange Village Police and area law enforcement agencies in assuring that Pinecrest is a welcoming and safe place for everyone."
Orange police and neighboring departments will help security implement the new policy, although Lt. Mike Roberts tells 3News Orange officers will be "hands-off" to start with. All unaccompanied children still in the area at 4 p.m. will be asked to leave, and it would be up to Pinecrest to decide whether or not to call police in case of trespassing. Officials also noted that Silverspot Cinema is always only available to adults.
Orange Mayor Kathy Mulcahy released the following statement:
"Pinecrest will be implementing a new safety and security program which I fully support.
"The changes are necessary because of repeated instances of unsupervised teens and younger visitors from the region disregarding Pinecrest security rules and Code of Conduct policy. In some instances, minors have broken laws. These incidents have threatened the safety of all guests, merchants and residents – including the younger visitors – and cannot continue. Safety is our number one priority."