NEWPORT BEACH : Skateboard Controls Postponed by City

The brakes won’t be put on skateboards on the Ocean Front boardwalk, at least not for another couple of weeks.

City Council members Monday put off until their next study session, Oct. 12, a decision on banning skateboards. The issue will be discussed further then.

Councilwoman Ruthelyn Plummer failed to persuade her colleagues that at least a seasonal ban would benefit the area. The skateboarders, Plummer said, “have special problems and they create special problems. It’s sad that it takes government so long to come up with a solution.”

In December, the City Council approved a short-term “solution” directing that a stripe be painted down the middle of the boardwalk. All skaters and skateboarders were required to keep to the right side of the stripe.

Also, an 8 m.p.h. speed limit was implemented, and skateboards were barred from a “walk zone” at the McFadden Plaza area.

Since enforcement began in late June, police have issued 236 citations for skateboarding in restricted areas. But the Ocean Front Sidewalk Ad Hoc Committee reported that police consider pedestrians the biggest violators of the “Rules of the Road.”

The panel recommended no action to restrict use of skateboards “at this time” until further evaluation of the “short-term solution.”

Last year, city leaders backed off a proposal to ban skateboards, skates and bicycles on the beach sidewalk after vocal protests from numerous residents.

On Monday, the Public Works Department presented council members with a two-page letter from the president of the National Skateboard Assn., urging them to consider community youth before making such a controversial decision.

“The positive physical and psychological benefits of skating are exactly what psychologists tell us are missing from the lives of most drug users and gang members. . . . I urge you to carefully consider what message your actions will send to the youth of your community,” wrote Tom Cozens, the organization’s leader.

But Plummer, who represents the West Newport area, said: “It’s a serious problem. They run into people, and I’m tired of dodging them. We have to (do) something.” She suggested banning skateboards from the Ocean Front sidewalk either from June 15 through the Labor Day weekend, or during that time plus all weekends.