LAGUNA NIGUEL : Skateboard Acrobatics Face a Ban

The City Council this week approved an ordinance that allows businesses to post signs prohibiting “acrobatic or hazardous” skateboarding, bicycle riding or roller skating.

City officials say the new law, which takes effect next month, is needed because skateboard enthusiasts regularly inflict damage on private property in Laguna Niguel. Using skateboards for transportation is not prohibited.

Some residents who spoke before the City Council on Tuesday night contended that skateboard riders damage property, frighten customers and retaliate when asked to leave.

“We’re continually vandalized by the skateboarders,” said Clara Frantz, manager of Bank of America on Crown Valley Parkway. “When we go out and tell the kids to leave, the next day we have eggs all over the doors.”

But a group of teen-age boys who attended the meeting say skateboard riders as a group are being unfairly maligned. Most are good citizens who just want to be left alone to enjoy the sport, they say.

“We don’t want to damage property, so you can get that out of your heads,” said Sage Geyer, 15, a Dana Hills High School student. “We just want to skateboard.”

What they need, say the teen-agers, is a place to ride their boards without being hassled. The city has been studying the possibility of creating a skateboard park in Laguna Niguel but has not yet made a recommendation.

Under the new law, business owners can post signs prohibiting “roller skating, acrobatic or hazardous skateboarding, bicycling or similar activity.” The ordinance defines acrobatic skateboarding as activity including “jumps, spins, loops, 360 (degree turns) and handstands.”

First offenses are punishable by a $25 ticket, and subsequent violations would cost $50.

In drafting the new ordinance, the city worked closely with teen-agers from Dana Hills High School and Niguel Hills Junior High School. After one meeting attended by about 35 skateboarders, Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Davis, chief of police services in Laguna Niguel, agreed to delete a provision that would have allowed three-time violators to be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor.