Simi Ponders Skateboard Ban on City Property

Youthful skateboarders, whose gravity-defying tricks have earned shouts of praise from their peers, have drawn a different kind of attention from the Simi Valley City Council, which wants to ban skateboarding on city property and eventually on city streets.

Complaints from pedestrians at the city’s Civic Center and the fear of lawsuits have prompted the City Council to schedule for consideration Monday a ban on skateboarding there and on other city property, city officials said.

The broad expanse of cement walkways in the Civic Center courtyard draws 10 to 20 skateboarders each day after school, according to youths who practice the sport.

“I come here two or three times a week,” said Tim Geiges, 16. “It’s my favorite thing to do.”

About 50 of the youths and their parents attended last Monday’s City Council meeting to protest the proposed skateboarding ban, but the council majority agreed that the sport is too dangerous for the Civic Center property.

“The courts have gone to the point where nothing can be an individual’s fault. There always has to be a deep pocket somewhere,” Mayor Greg Stratton said.

“If you or the government agency have a duty to people for safety in certain events, and you can’t afford to do that, then you have to ban the activity and enforce the ban.”

The young skateboarders gathered on the Civic Center courtyard after school Wednesday said that the City Council does not understand their sport or the difficulty of finding a place to practice it.

“They don’t see it from our point of view,” said Scott Miller, 11. “They think we get hurt too much but we don’t--just scrapes and bruises but no broken bones. They should just leave it alone, otherwise they’re going to have kids committing crimes by skating.”

The proposed ordinance to ban skateboarding on city property would set fines of up to $200 for an infraction, said Loron Cox, the city’s director of general services.

Several skateboarders said they probably would avoid the pavement around the Civic Center if the ban were enacted for city property. But they said they would not observe any ban on city streets.

“I’d still ride, even it were banned,” Gary Stinson, 14, said of skateboarding on the streets. “It’s what I do.”

The council postponed a decision on banning skateboards from the streets until the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District board has a chance to meet with youths and decide whether alternative sites can be provided. A decision on a citywide street ban is probable by the end of the year, city officials said.

“I am amazed at the attitude of some parents who are urging us to allow their children to play in the streets,” City Councilman Glen McAdoo said. “I don’t know if I’m being old-fashioned, but the streets weren’t a safe place to play when I was young. My mother would have put a red spot on my behind if I played in the streets.”

Several cities in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties have banned skateboarding on city property and streets. The city of Ventura has, since 1952, banned all coasting vehicles, including skateboards but not bicycles, on city streets and property, City Clerk Barbara Kam said.

If a ban is enacted in Simi Valley, city police would investigate complaints and issue tickets if they saw someone skateboarding on restricted property, officials said.

But, if there is an eventual ban on city streets, police will concentrate on enforcing it on busy thoroughfares, Stratton said.

Perry Anderson, owner of Aggrozone, a Simi Valley skateboard shop, has begun gathering signatures on a petition asking the council to continue allowing skateboards on City Hall property and on streets.

“If they ban skating on the streets, I think the kids are going to ignore it,” Anderson said.