Office Complex Asks Thousand Oaks to Ban Skateboarders From Walkway

Skateboarders may soon roll into trouble at a Thousand Oaks office complex.

The property manager of Westlake Plaza Centre said he wants the city to declare a 100-foot concrete walkway off-limits to skateboarders who use it to practice aerial jumps.

“I guess they’re just out trying to have fun,” said Manager John S. Kelly. “But they’re actually damaging property.”

City traffic engineer John R. Helliwell said Kelly’s request will be heard at a City Council meeting Sept. 15.

If the ban is adopted at Westlake Plaza Centre, it would be the first commercial center in Thousand Oaks to outlaw skateboarding under a 3-year-old municipal ordinance that gives the city the authority to prohibit skateboarding, bicycling and roller-skating on public and private property.

Offenders would receive a ticket, and each violation carries a maximum fine of $100.

“There has to be a certain finding that it interferes with pedestrians or vehicles,” Helliwell said.

The Westlake Plaza Centre on Townsgate Road is the headquarters for a number of large businesses, including the upscale offices of Liberty Mutual Insurance and Century 21.

Although skateboarders have used the walkway for years, Kelly said that in recent months their numbers have grown, and the Sheriff’s Department has not responded to his complaints.

On weekdays, some skateboarders harass tenants and scare workers who cross their paths, Kelly said. And on some Saturday and Sunday afternoons, groups of up to 15 youths, some in cars and pickup trucks, arrive to claim the walkway as their own.

“They like to take a running jump at our stair rails, and they jump off it like it was a ski jump,” Kelly said. “We can’t keep paint on the rails. They’re chipping off concrete steps. They get up on low walls and scrape stucco off.”

Since skateboarding youths started congregating at the office complex, their athletic feats have caused about $3,000 in property damage to the building’s sidewalks, rails and walls, he said.

“This is a $15-million building,” he said, then pointed to a badly chipped handrail. “And look at this rail. We’re just fighting a losing battle.”

On one sidewalk, someone had scratched out the “No” in “No Skateboarding” and written in the word “allowed.”

Merchants in other commercial centers of Thousand Oaks say their frustration with skateboarders is also growing.

Leslie Schwartz, part owner and property manager of Arboles Shopping Center at Avenida de los Arboles and Moorpark Road, said he has asked the city to ban skateboarding at the mall because of complaints from tenants and shoppers.

Skateboarders “are very destructive,” said Schwartz, who also runs a veterinary clinic. “It’s a nuisance. I’ve opened my door to my clinic and I’ve almost clobbered a couple. We’re worried someone’s going to crack their skulls.”