They Are Nuisances--at Best--to Most Cities

Calixto Hernandez, 19, of Ocean Beach was skateboarding through the grounds of a local middle school one afternoon. He was not the only person using the area for purposes other than intended ones.

In one of the corridors was another young man volleying a dirty tennis ball against a school wall. Both were minding their own business, but Hernandez soon became the target of the tennis player’s ire.

“He comes out to me and tells me to leave because I’m defacing public property,” Hernandez said. “And he doesn’t even realize that while he’s yelling at me to go out and do something productive, he’s beating a tennis ball against a wall and marking it up.”

Many skateboarders have had similar experiences. San Diego’s Robert Wages, 16, tells of almost being arrested for skateboarding through an underground parking lot in Mission Valley with a few friends.

“An army of security guards chased us down,” Wages said, “then called the police and told them we were trespassing with intent to vandalize.”

Skateboarders are seen as vandals and nuisances, and in all but one of the 18 cities in the county, they are often issued citations for the crime of skateboarding.

Of nine skateboarders interviewed, all had been ticketed or given a warning by police. Most said all their skateboarding friends, too, have either received warnings or citations.

Ordinances specifically limiting skateboarding exist in 15 county cities.

Solana Beach does not limit skateboarding at all.

Vista has no law pertaining to skateboards but often applies a non-loitering ordinance to skateboarders in business districts, according to the city clerk.

Encinitas has no written ordinance but has posted several no-skateboard signs throughout its business district.

Most of the other 15 cities simply forbid skateboarding on streets, public property and on sidewalks in front of businesses.

Santee’s ordinances are the most restrictive. You can skateboard only on private property, only after obtaining written permission from the property owner and only between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. There is also a noise ordinance skateboarders must adhere to. Dan Summers, Santee’s code-compliance officer, said the noise level must be kept below 50 decibels.

Other county code-compliance officers and city clerks said their cities rarely cite skateboarders, only doing so when complaints are received.

But skateboarders said they feel picked on at all times.

Bryan Doane, 22, of Ocean Beach said police seem to discriminate against older skateboarders.

“They think we’re degenerates,” he said.

Once, Doane said, he was cited for using his skateboard to go to the grocery store.

On the way home, “I was going real slow when a cop pulled over, came up to me with his hand on his gun the whole time, then wrote me a ticket. And I was just using my skateboard as transportation.”

Doane shook his head at the memory.

“I manage a retail store, but I’m a criminal,” he said with a look of disgust.

Skateboarders have heard the complaints of merchants, pedestrians, school administrators and politicians and know the reasons why their sport is illegal in certain areas:

--Skateboarders on sidewalks have been known to smack into pedestrians or even lose control of their boards, which then roll free and can hit pedestrians, sometimes causing injury.

--The tricks skateboarders enjoy doing in schoolyards and parking lots--jumping over curbs, parking blocks, stairs and sliding down hand rails--often chip away at cement or asphalt surfaces.

--They’re just plain noisy.

“People pretty much say we’re a menace to society,” Wages said, “that we like to destroy property for the sake of fun. . . .

“You know, a car can ride over a parking block and destroy it, but if a skateboarder erodes it a little bit, that seems to be so much worse.”

THE COST OF GETTING STARTED

Equipment--The board itself, called a “deck,” two axles, four wheels, bearings and rails (strips of plastic that are attached to the bottom of the deck lengthwise and aid in sliding across parking blocks and such).

Deck $42-$50.

Axles $35 per pair.

Wheels $30 for four.

Bearings $10-$13.

Rails $6 per pair.

Total $123-$144.