{"id":18056,"date":"2012-07-24T22:59:44","date_gmt":"2012-07-25T05:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=18056"},"modified":"2013-01-18T21:18:24","modified_gmt":"2013-01-19T05:18:24","slug":"council-holds-off-on-skateboard-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2012\/07\/24\/council-holds-off-on-skateboard-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Council holds off on skateboard ban"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The council decided Tuesday to delay voting on an ordinance that would make it illegal to ride a skateboard on The Blvd. Violators would face fines between $25 to $100, according to the proposed ordinance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 For now, the Lancaster City Council is holding off on a proposal to ban skateboarding and roller skating on The BLVD.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to redraft this,\u201d said Mayor R. Rex Parris, at a packed council meeting Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The decision came after passionate testimony from more than a dozen residents both for and against a proposed\u00a0ordinance and resolution<\/a> that would have made it illegal to skateboard or roller skate on Lancaster Boulevard, between Sierra Highway and 10th Street West, as well as the surrounding side streets. (see the proposed “no skateboarding\/ roller skating areas here<\/a>“).<\/p>\n

The City Attorney\u2019s Office drafted the ordinance in response to complaints from residents that skateboarders posed dangers to pedestrians and drivers on The BLVD.<\/p>\n

\u201cFew things make me as crazy as getting out of my car and having a skateboarder whiz by me, no idea where he\u2019s going, and I have to jump for my life,\u201d said Diann Moskowitz.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Tenants of the Arbor Artist Lofts said skateboarders were wreaking havoc and had turned the lofts’ parking lot into a skate park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tenants of the Arbor Artist Lofts said skateboarders had disrupted their quality of life. They said the skateboarders were using the lofts\u2019 parking area as a skate park and said the neighboring Pharmacy Boardshop had become a mecca for noisy skateboarders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had skateboarders living outside my window,\u201d said Piper Coolidge. \u201cI\u2019ve had them throwing rocks at my sliding glass door.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ban was met with resistant by a contingent of skateboard supporters who attended Tuesday\u2019s council meeting solely to oppose the ordinance.<\/p>\n

Sharon Murray said skateboarding was a positive outlet for her son and many other local youths.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they don\u2019t skateboard, they\u2019re gonna do other things, and those things probably aren\u2019t gonna be good things,\u201d Murray said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese kids don\u2019t have cars or drivers\u2019 licenses\u2026\u201d said Nathan Morris of Pharmacy Boardshop. \u201cIt\u2019s just a logical form of transportation for these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Tietjen said his son rode a skateboard down The BLVD to get to school.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy saying \u2018no, you can\u2019t go down Lancaster Boulevard,\u2019 he\u2019s got to go two or three blocks into areas that are less populated and crime could happen,\u201d Tietjen said.<\/p>\n

Also speaking against the ban were skaters, who felt they were being unfairly lumped in with the skateboarders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get to my job by my skates,\u201d said Muriah Chenoweth. \u201cI need to go down the boulevard because not all the sidewalks are easy for me to actually skate on\u2026 [the ban] affects myself and also my derby team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Parris suggested the skateboarders use the American Heroes Park. But a speaker said that skateboarders were banned from the park, as well.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou have security, if they see somebody doing something that\u2019s unsafe or inappropriate, they could be ticketed and asked to leave,\u201d said avid skater Steven Blum. \u201cI think that would be a better idea than a ban, where you ban everybody, especially the rollarskater who doesn\u2019t seem to be causing any issues at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The council listened to nearly an hour of testimony. Many speakers were granted more than the allotted three minutes speaking time to allow for interaction with the mayor and council members.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I am hearing is that there are concerns by the loft residents and they\u2019re very valid concerns\u2026\u201d said Housing Authority Chair Kitty Kit Yee Szeto. \u201cI\u2019m hearing skateboarders need to use The Blvd to go to school or travel\u2026 if there is some way we can amend the ordinance or somehow redraft it to have restrictions on time and when it can be used, when the kids can use The BLVD to skateboard and when they can\u2019t, I think that\u2019s a good compromise for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parris instructed the city manager to set up a meeting between all parties that would be affected by a proposed skateboarding ban, including the sheriff\u2019s deputy responsible for policing The BLVD, a Pharmacy Boardshop representative, a representative from the artists\u2019 lofts and other stakeholders.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s figure out an ordinance that everybody can live with within the next 30 days,\u201d said Parris, adding that he would insist all skateboarders wear helmets.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, on Farmers\u2019 Market days, don\u2019t bring your skateboards,\u201d Parris said. \u201cIt\u2019s not gonna happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 For now, the Lancaster City Council is holding off on a proposal to ban skateboarding and roller skating on The BLVD. \u201cI want to redraft this,\u201d said Mayor R. Rex Parris, at a packed council meeting Tuesday. The decision came after passionate testimony from more than a dozen residents both for and against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18056"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}