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Skateboarding ban grinds to a halt
By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — At its regular meeting, held
last Thursday, Sept. 29, the Alpine Planning Group decided not
to pursue an ordinance that would have banned skateboarding in
many areas in Alpine. Instead, the group decided to work with
local business owners, sheriffs and youth, to find a solution to
concerns about skateboarding in Alpine.
“We used to have grass; we don’t now, the sprinkler
heads are getting broken continuously. We have many pictures
showing the destruction that these kids are doing with their
skateboards,” said Sue Roff, Director of the Alpine Community
Center. The park at the center is one of the spots that has
become a hang-out for the teenage boys to ride their
skateboards.
Roff provided one anecdote; of a wedding that was
cancelled after the rehearsal was interrupted by a group of
youths who were shouting and swearing at the bridal party.
Another problem area is at the Countryside Center at
the corner of Alpine Boulevard and Tavern Road, where groups of
skaters can often be seen riding curbs and steps.
“On an almost daily basis we’ve got about a dozen or so
of these skateboarders hanging around, getting rowdy and causing
trouble for patrons and business owners,” said Floyd Burk, owner
of the Alpine Karate Academy and head of a group called the
Countryside Center Safety Group.
Burk shared incidences of vandalism and destruction of
property at Countryside, as well as harassment of people going
to the Karate school and adjacent businesses.
“I have had several unpleasant encounters with the
skateboarders who cause trouble in the area,” wrote karate
student Rawley Busby in a letter to the APG. “Twice they have
thrown rocks at my car as I pull into the parking lot… Their
behavior is rude and occasionally criminal.”
“Over the past five years this has really gotten much
worse,” Roff said. “I’ve tried to reach out to these kids and
their families, we’ve tried to have a community town hall
meeting about this, the sheriffs have tried to talk with these
families, but no one ever shows up.”
“I’ve always been an advocate for children in Alpine,
and I’d like to see a skateboard park for these children; but
I’d also like to see a little respect,” she added.
Burk, Roff and nearly 50 others who signed a petition,
are requesting a new ordinance in Alpine that would ban
skateboarding in areas along Alpine Boulevard, Tavern Road and
Arnold Way, including businesses and private property, such a
the community center.
According to supporters, the ordinance would provide
business and property owners some sort of recourse against the
youth incursions, and would allow sheriffs deputies to pursue
violators.
“I don’t think we need to get the police out chasing a
bunch of kids on skateboards,” said APG member Richard Saldano.
“It sounds like the group you’ve got here at the park would be
out being malicious with or without skateboards.”
Many of the planning group member agreed that more
enforcement likely will not help the situation in Alpine, where
there are very few organized activities for youths to occupy
their time. The group did not support an all-out ban of the
four-wheeled decks, but several members questioned why vandalism
and trespassing laws already on the books couldn’t deal with the
problem.
“The scene is always the same,” Roff said. “We ask the
youths to leave — they don’t leave; we ask them again — they
swear and curse at us. We call the sheriffs and then a soon as
the cruiser pulls up the kids all scatter.”
According to Alpine Sergeant Joe Sprecco, without
physical evidence of vandalism and trespassing, there isn’t a
lot that the sheriffs can do.
“Kids are going to be kids, but the ordinance that
we’re requesting is there for two things,” said Al Martinez,
president of the Alpine Community Center board. “For the sake of
the children’s safety and to protect the property of the
business owners and the community center.”
“It’s not just that I want skateboarders off the
streets, I’m glad to see the kids outside doing something
physical, not just sitting inside and playing their video games.
I want to see these kids on skateboards, but within a park and
in a safe environment.”
Martinez said that he has identified a site at the
community center that he thinks could easily be used for a
skateboard park, located behind the old childcare center.
However, he admits that, it’s going to be costly.
“It’s up to us to make this happen for these kids, to
get out there and get the funds and put the work in to build
this skateboard park for these kids,” he said. “The funds are
going to come from grants, come from fund raising in the
community, come from people in the community with money who want
to donate and help get this park built.”
The Alpine Community Center is a non-profit facility,
and does not have the funds itself to make this happen without
the support of the community.
“I want to give these kids something to do,” said
Alpine Sheriff Department Captain Roy Heringer. “This can’t just
be about enforcement.”
The skateboarders were also represented at the APG
meeting. Al Guerra, owner of the Liar’s Club, asked that the
group not pursue any ordinance against skateboarding.
“I love to skate and I’ve been doing it for about 30
years, and with the gas prices lately, I often ride my
skateboard up and down Alpine Boulevard to get to and from
work,” Guerra said.
“This is a sport, and it’s getting big,’ said Steve, a
father who was there to speak for his skateboarding son, Logan.
“You can’t have an ordinance, where are these kids going to go?
These kids are still going to skate.”
“There’s just no where to skate,” said Logan. “Anywhere
we go; we skate and we get kicked out… We need somewhere to go.”
Logan pointed out the current skateboarding sessions
that are held at Bethel Christian Assembly. Ever Wednesday from
6 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon, skateboarders
can head to the church parking lot at the corner of Tavern Road
and Arnold Way to take advantage of an open skate ramp.
“We can work as hard as we can with the kids, but we
can’t do anything about the parents,” said Ann Pierce, a member
of the Alpine Union School District board. “These kids are
bored. We need to get proactive with this and get these kids
something to do. We need to give them opportunities to help work
towards their goal of this park.”
Supervisor Dianne Jacob has also offered to help with
the skateboarding issue in Alpine. In Julian, when a similar
problem arose, Jacob worked with the youth and the chamber,
ultimately getting a skateboard park built in the area.
In the end, instead of moving ahead with an ordinance
to ban skateboarding, the APG decided to take an active role in
getting a skatepark built in Alpine.
Sprecco was on hand at the meeting to offer the Alpine
Sheriff Department’s help with the effort. He collected names of
board members and residents who are interested in participating
in a group. The mission of that focus group being to define the
challenges skateboarding youth bring to the community, and
identifying short and long-term solutions to overcoming those
challenges.
The informal group held its first meeting on Wednesday
night, with more meetings will follow. Keep reading The Alpine
Sun’s Sun Dial, on page 3, for upcoming meeting dates and times.
Interested residents, and especially Alpine skateboarders, are
invited and encouraged to attend any meetings.
If you are interested in taking part in this group, and
plans to work towards a skateboard park in the Alpine area,
please contact Captain Roy Heringer at the Alpine Sheriff’s
Station, 659-2602 or e-mail him at
Roy.Heringer@sdsheriff.org.
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