City Council Reinstates Ban on In-Line Skating

Bowing to the desires of downtown merchants, the City Council agreed Monday to return in-line skating to a list of banned activities in the downtown business district.

The council voted last week to amend a recently proposed ordinance banning bicycles and skateboards from sidewalks in the downtown area to allow in-line skating.

The decision infuriated merchants and police officials who helped draft the regulation. Many of them turned out Monday night to ask council members to overturn their decision and stick with the original ordinance.

Longtime downtown merchant Johnny Trueblood was one of many shop owners who spoke Monday night in favor of the original ordinance. “I think the downtown area should be for people who walk,” he said. “Downtown is not a sports arena.”

Officer Terri Vujea, who works out of the downtown police storefront, said that removing in-line skating from the ordinance unfairly singled out skateboarders, who could legitimately argue that their sport was being targeted.

“I don’t want to be . . . having to confront these logical questions,” she said. “What we want to encourage you to do is look at the proposal as it was written originally.”

Police and business owners say skateboarding, bicycling and in-line skating in the newly renovated downtown corridor have resulted in property damage and near collisions with pedestrians.

They presented a draft version of an ordinance to the council several weeks ago after researching similar bans adopted by other beach cities from around the state.

But surprising merchants and his colleagues, Councilman Ray Di Guilio last week suggested altering the proposed ordinance to exempt in-line skaters from the ordinance.

Di Guilio argued that the regulation would unfairly restrict skaters who were not contributing to the problems downtown.

Instead, he suggested that the policy be amended to allow roller-skating and in-line skating at “walking speeds.” The council voted 4 to 2 to change the policy, with Mayor Jack Tingstrom and Councilman Jim Friedman dissenting.

But the council members said Monday that they had no intention of ignoring downtown merchants and agreed to overturn their earlier decision. “There was no intent to omit or overtly say we didn’t want to listen to downtown merchants,” said Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures. “Our intent was good.”

Di Guilio also said he had no intention of stepping on the toes of the downtown merchants. “I prefer not to circumvent the Downtown Ventura Assn.,” he said. “I can support it this way.”

*

The ordinance would ban wheeled devices such as skateboards from sidewalks in an eight-block section of downtown Ventura, from Ash Street to Ventura Avenue, and from Poli Street to Harbor Boulevard. Violators would be ticketed $25.

The new ban would only apply to sidewalks--not streets--so bicyclists could ride downtown as long as they stay off pedestrian walkways, police said.

But because skateboarding and in-line skating on city streets are illegal, skaters would be required to step off their boards or take off their wheels once they entered the pedestrian-safe zone.

The ordinance must come back to the council next month for a final vote.