2007-10-20T12:17:00.001-07:00

Skate community reacts to park changeover

By Glenn Wallace / STAFF WRITER

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A Solvang Parks and Recreation skateboarding class, taught by instructor Dave Becker seen standing on the right in the back. Skate park regular and assistant instructor Logan Preston stands in the back on the left side. //Contributed

Solvang Skatepark boosters say the most popular recreational facility in Solvang is suffering from an undeserved image problem.

Last month, the city of Solvang took operational control of the skatepark, but the council voiced concerns over rule violations, and vowed to reexamine the running of the facility in a year.

“This community raised the money and gave it as a gift to the city, and that’s how it should be looked at,” said Holly Delaney, owner of the Backdoor Board Shop in Solvang and one of the community boosters who helped see the park built in 2005.

Delaney and other community members who skate argue that the identified problems with the park have easy solutions, and that draconian enforcement and a negative attitude towards the park from the City Council only worsen matters.

At the Sept. 24 City Council meeting, the city officially took over management of the skate park from the Valley Youth Sports Foundation. The group’s spokesman, Dean Palius, said his group of volunteers was not capable of continuing to operate the park, particularly its daily closure.

In the foundation’s letter to the council, Palius said that “a minority of users who refuse to follow the rules” in regards to safety pad requirements and not throwing away trash were among the reasons for the change.

The council agreed to maintain the park, but discussion about the expense and trouble involved in running the facility, along with the behavioral problems of “a few bad apples,” as one council member put it, made the long-term prognosis for city support seem less than certain.

That attitude, combined with a city ordinance banning all skateboarding within the city’s downtown, has left some skaters feeling alienated.

“It’s hard that the city feels that way about us,” said local college student and skater Kyle Haines.

“This is giving kids something they want to do for free, every day,” he said.

The park opened in May 2005, built with funds donated by sources as diverse as the Elks Youth Recreation Foundation, Rusak Winery, the Chumash Indian tribe, several local families and somebody listed only as “The Dude.”

On a typical afternoon, over a dozen youths fill the Solvang Skate Park, a fenced-in section of sculpted concrete located in Hans Christian Andersen Park.

The skaters usually range in age from 6 to 20, with a similar wide range of skating skill.

According to Palius, in the last two years of operating the park, he estimated 35 to 50 skaters use the park each day, and that over 1,200 individuals have signed a waiver to use it.

“In its use and recreation, I think all our expectations are met. It’s a real quality park,” said Palius.

On a recent afternoon, nearly 20 skaters filled the park, with a handful of spectators watching. Some skaters were practicing kick flips. Some were trying to “grind” a funbox, while a group of three tried to skate the bowl section in a line.

“I’m impressed with it,” said Dave Stewart as he watched his 8-year-old son Jackson navigate some of the park’s sloping terrain, well equipped with helmet, knee and elbow pads.

It was Stewart’s second time at the park, though his three children had come there several times before, and he said he liked what he had seen so far.

“It’s clean, there’s no problems between kids, they’re courteous to each other without parents telling them what to do. If one of the younger kids falls down, they’ll help them up and make sure they’re OK.”

Haines said the stereotypical image of skaters as antisocial thugs was a grave misrepresentation of the skating community in general, and had perhaps tainted recent city discussions on the skatepark’s future.

“The reality is there’s all these young kids, bundled up in pads rolling around.”

The young kids, in full pads and under the watchful eye of parents like Stewart, are certainly a recurring theme in the park. A popular skating class filled with eager young athletes was held over the summer by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, for example.

Older kids stop by on their own after school as well, and some of the oldest drive themselves to the park.

This afternoon at least, there seemed to be an inverse ratio of padding in relation to the age and experience of the skater. Most were not wearing elbow or knee pads, though all by the two seemingly oldest wore helmets.

That part of the park Stewart did not like.

“It kind of shows the other boys that that’s OK (to go without helmets), and it’s not,” he said.

“Usually when I come by, I see pretty much everyone in compliance,” said Jim Sobell, who had stopped by the park to pick up his son.

Sobell said his teenage son skates almost every day, although he is fairly sure his son does not wear his knee and elbow pads when dad is not around.

The Conflicts

“Any of the problems I’ve heard about are all involving kids skating in the park,” said Delaney. “It should be a good problem that the park is so popular and used so much, not a bad problem.”

Before the skatepark was even finished, it had already become a flashpoint between the authorities and the undeniable need for skater recreation in the Valley.

With the park still fenced off and not yet complete, area skaters hopped the construction fencing to ride the park as soon as the concrete dried. Gravel was later scattered inside of the skate bowls to dissuade skaters from seeking a preview.

Delaney said that in the first two and a half years she volunteered to help close the park, she never encountered the problems cited by Palius, and did not find the trash excessive.

Vandalism at the park had been virtually nonexistent, and the city has yet to be contacted about a serious accident at the park, or threatened with legal action regarding it.

“I think a lot of people are overreacting,” especially about the pad requirements, said Logan Preston, a junior at Solvang Charter School.

“I think little kids should wear them,” he said, citing their lack of experience and more fragile bones.

More experienced riders learn to roll and slide out of falls to minimize injury, according to Preston, reducing the need for elbow and knee pads.

Other skaters, including Haines, shared that sentiment, saying an older and experienced skater has no practical need to wear full elbow and knee pads in most situations. They say among many California skateparks, the full knee and elbow pad requirement are rarely enforced, yet statewide injury and lawsuit rates remain low, and percentage-wise compare favorably with more traditional team sports.

Statistics by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission give some support to their claims. Six out of every 10 skateboard injuries are to children under 15 years of age, and skateboarders who have been skating for less than a week suffer one-third of all injuries.

The full helmet, elbow and knee padding requirement comes from state law, and helps protect municipalities from legal liability.

“We think the skatepark’s a great asset and just want people to follow the rules when they’re using the facility,” said City Manager Brad Vidro.

Vidro said the city had directed the Sheriff’s Department to send the city patrol car past the park on occasion to check for compliance. In 2007, those occasional patrols netted an average of three violators a month. Last month, however, 16 safety violations were filed.

“The police hate it. They have better things to do than write a ticket over an elbow pad,” said Delaney.

The high number of violations combined with the City Council’s words of concern about the park’s operation have led to fears in the skating community of a possible shut down.

Vidro said the City Council had the authority to shut the park if it so chooses.

“That really depends on the behavior. If we have any combative persons not wanting to leave there every night, or a high number of violations, we might close it down for a time.

“It would take more than a couple incidences before we would get to that level though,” he said.

Delaney expressed dismay at the possibility.

“The worst thing we could see is the park closed for punishment.”

Glenn Wallace can be reached at 688-5522, Ext. 6007 or gwallace@syvnews.com

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2006-09-02T18:11:00.000-07:00

S.I.S Heroes

2006-05-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

S.I.S. HEROES

ELKS YOUTH RECREATION

SANTA YNEZ VALLEY SPORTS FOUNDATION
THE BACKDOOR BOARD SHOP CREW
CHUMASH INDIAN TRIBE
FREDRIC STECK FAMILY FOUNDATION
CURTIS HOMES
SOLVANG CITY PARKS AND RECREATION

CALIFORNIA SKATE PARKS/JOE CIAGLIA
SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION
SANTA YNEZ VALLEY FOUNDATION
STEWART GILDRED FOUNDATION

AIR JAMAICA
BICKEL FAMILY
BLECKER FAMILY
CHANNEL ISLANDS SURF
CHUCK LEBEAU
CLEARWATER FINE FOODS
CLOVER LANE FOUNDATION
COMCAST
COPELANDS
DENEE’S FUNITURE
EARL PETERSON
ELEMENT SKATE BOARDS
GARY DAVIRRO, DDS
GRAPPOLO TRATTORIA
THE DUDE
HICKEY FAMILY
KENNEDY COURT REPORTERS
LUCKY BRAND DUNGAREES
MAD CADDIES
TRABUCCO FAMILY
MATT SPURR / HURLEY INTERNATIONAL
OWENS TAX PROFESSIONALS / SORENSEN & SORENSEN
PACIFIC WEST REALTY
POWERS FAMILY
RICK MELVIN/LOS OLIVOS REALTY
RIO VISTA CHEVROLET
RUSACK WINERY
SANFORD WINERY
SANTA BARBARA NEWS PRESS
SYV MINISTERIAL ASSOC.
SYV ROTARY CLUB FOUNDATION
SHORTY’S SKATEBOARDS
SOLVANG SHOE STORE
SHULTZ FAMILY
THE BEACH HOUSE
THE HALLOWELLS AND SCOTT HARRIS
THIS LITTLE PIGGY
VALLEY OAKS BANK
WHITE OAKS LANDSCAPE AND MAINTENANCE
WIELAND FAMILY

News

Skate community reacts to park changeover

Skate Camp was a Success

S.I.S Heroes