Roller Skate Use May Be Legalized

The Palos Verdes Estates City Council is considering legalizing roller skating and roller blading in the city--provided that “good skates” are cautious and stay out of traffic.

Police Chief Gary Johansen was directed by the council to draft an ordinance that would continue to forbid skateboarding but would permit the use of roller skates and roller blades, which resemble ice skates but have wheels. The ordinance would include a provision for issuing citations to skaters who are reckless or discourteous.

The proposed ordinance, upon which the council will act at its June 12 meeting, had been requested by Mayor James Nyman, who said it is unfair to prohibit children and adults from roller skating. He said skaters are unlikely to use hills to increase speed, as skateboarders do, because it is difficult to stop. “If they do (roller skate down a hill), they’ll only do it once. . . . There’s no difference between walking on our streets and roller skating, if it’s done in a safe manner,” he said.

An ordinance passed in 1981 forbids using roller skates, roller blades and skateboards in the streets, which effectively bans them from use throughout the community, because the city has no sidewalks.