NEWPORT BEACH : Skateboarding Ban Possible on 15th St.

The City Council today will consider giving final approval to a plan that would ban skateboarding on 15th Street.

If approved, the new ordinance would be the second anti-skateboarding plan in as many months in the city, which has been cracking down on skaters amid complaints from residents.

The ordinance, proposed by the city’s Traffic Affairs Committee, seeks to stop skateboarding on 15th Street between the channel and the beach, and also around the public restroom area at the beach end of the street, where skaters tend to congregate.

About a dozen residents living on and around 15th Street petitioned the council last month to curtail skateboarding in the area. They complained that riders were noisy and destructive, often using private property for jumps and other skateboard tricks.

Two months ago, the city banned skateboarding around the Newport Pier after complaints from nearby residents and business owners. In the past, it has prohibited skateboarders from the Balboa Peninsula Fun Zone, the Balboa Pier and a street on Balboa Island.