CYPRESS : Anti-Skateboard Law Tentatively OKd

The City Council has tentatively approved an ordinance that allows property owners to post “no skateboarding” signs and call police for enforcement.

The new law could potentially ban skateboarding throughout the city. Mayor Gail H. Kerry said that is why she voted against the ordinance, which passed Monday on a 4-1 vote.

“Now you’re going to find people that just like to post signs and call police every time they see someone on a skateboard,” she said. “This will create a tremendous monster for the Police Department.”

But the other council members said they don’t believe every property owner will want to post the anti-skateboarding signs.

Only Cypress College and the business center at Ball Road and Bloomfield Avenue had requested a skateboarding prohibition. They cited damage caused by skateboarders.

Police Chief Daryl Wicker showed slides of chipped, blackened and cracked concrete at the college and the business center that, he said, “may have been caused by skateboards.”

“The facility is getting nicked and scarred up,” said Elma Clamp, Cypress College vice president of administrative services. “We’ve already had a skateboarder and a car collide this year. We’d put up barriers, but that’s just one more challenge for them--something for them to jump over.”

Sharon Jones, a student at the campus and a Cypress resident, said skateboarders “don’t care if you’re in their way or not.” She favored the ban, calling the sport dangerous.

No one spoke against the ordinance, which council members plan to take final action on at a meeting next month.