Skateboarders in 90210 Could Be in for a Bumpy Ride

Beverly Hills High School has served as a location for such movies as “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Clueless.” Today, it’s become a prime location for something else: skateboarding.

But the school, which is highly regarded in skateboarding circles for its design and location atop a hill, is cracking down on skaters to avoid property damage and address residents’ complaints. Students and other skateboarders from outside the area are angry about the restrictions because they say they are running out of places to grind and ollie.

“Honestly, I think it’s pretty stupid because they don’t give us skate parks,” said Emil Naim, 15, a Beverly Hills High student. “But they make it illegal where we can skate.”

The school received wide exposure after Beverly Hills was featured in the top-selling “Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland” videogame, which was released in the fall.

In addition to students skating on weekdays, as many as 40 others were hanging out on school property every weekend, and some would “tag” their territory with marker pens, said Principal Dan Stepenosky. Other property damage, which school officials deemed minor, included scraped railings, chipped paint and defaced surfaces.

Other schools face similar problems, especially when skateboarding enthusiasts highlight them on a website or in a magazine. Mike Brady, deputy director of maintenance and operations for the Los Angeles Unified School District, said when that happens, skateboarders “stay for a while until we take measures, and then they go somewhere else.”

Some schools take preventive measures. South Pasadena High, for example, built its outdoor benches with “skate stoppers” and no railings.

During the winter break, workers at Beverly Hills High began to make railings and curbs less appealing to skaters. Metal bumps called acorn nuts were welded onto 24 heavily used railings. L-brackets are being installed on curbs, and exposed aggregate is being added to sidewalks in two locations.

The remodeling efforts, along with increased police patrols, have greatly reduced the number of skateboarders on school property, Beverly Hills High administrators say, but it is too early to declare victory. About three acorn nuts have been sawed off, and skateboarders are finding other areas and ways to skate on campus.

“It’s a very popular location,” said Michael McClatchey, assistant superintendent of business services, who headed the remodeling efforts. “It’s going to take quite a lot to discourage the kids from using it.”

It could also take a lot of money. Although welding acorns and installing curb brackets are relatively inexpensive, the exposed aggregate could cost up to $30,000. So far, the school has spent $8,000 to make 200 square feet of curb too rough to skate, McClatchey said.

The skaters seem to prefer the front stairway of the campus, where five landings, with several steps between each, provide deep drops the skaters say they crave.

Aside from the property damage, school administrators say they are concerned about liability if a serious injury occurred on campus.

In the meantime, neighborhood residents have expressed concern for their own safety. Some said they felt threatened by the skateboarders’ presence and appearance.

“They look like the kids with raincoats with guns underneath, that gothic look,” said Ronnie, a homeowners association representative who didn’t want her last name used for fear of retribution from skateboarders.

She led efforts to encourage the city and school district to take measures to make the area less attractive to skaters. She mobilized 15 residents of her condo building near the school to sign a petition, raised the issue at City Council meetings and complained to police and school officials.

“It’s not that I wish they don’t skateboard,” she said. “I just wish they had a place to go.”

Sgt. Joe Chirillo, head of crime prevention for the Beverly Hills Police Department, said a number of citations have been issued to skateboarders. “They’re not being bad when they’re skating,” he said. “They’re just trying to have fun. But skating does do damage sometimes.”

Beverly Hills is considering creating a skate park as it moves closer to building a new recreation center and renovating two existing ones. City officials are looking at proposals for the three projects now.

“I think skateboarding done in the appropriate place is a terrific sport,” said Mayor Linda Briskman. “And our youngsters deserve our support to find them a safe place to do it.”

But the completion of the first of three projects is at least two years away, said Steve Miller, director of the Recreation and Parks Department. Officials are still conducting surveys to measure the needs and interest of the community. So far, “the data has indicated that there is an overwhelming interest in this,” but “we still have a long way to go,” he said.

There are several notable skate parks in Southern California, including one in Glendale and another in Santa Monica, said Mike Hirsch, a skateboarding expert who owns a website, www.socalskateparks.com. He said there was an explosive growth of skate parks in Southern California starting in the late 1990s because cities thought they could control street skaters. The first of seven skate parks in Los Angeles opened in August 2001.

“Cities said, ‘Hey, if we build a skate park, we can quarantine these kids,’ ” said Hirsch, 40, who was a semiprofessional skateboarder. But he added, “It’s never going to happen. They’d have to cage every ledge, stairwell or barbwire.... Skateboarding is a part of our culture. I think it’s more popular than baseball.”

After school was dismissed recently, several students with skateboards converged on the front lawn and admitted they still grind the benches and jump the stairs.

“These stairs,” said Cyrus Esfondiary, 15, “are just perfect.”