Council Votes to Ban Skaters at 2 Malls

Just three weeks after banning skateboarding, bicycling and in-line skating on downtown sidewalks, the Ventura City Council voted Monday to ban those activities at two shopping centers in central and east Ventura.

At the request of business owners in the Ashwood Shopping Center near Ventura College and the Central Center at the corner of Telephone Road and Petit Avenue, the council agreed to post signs prohibiting skating, cycling and in-line skating in areas where people walk.

Businesses at both shopping centers have complained that such activities are endangering their customers’ safety and frightening away business.

“They’re running into people and scaring them away,” said Donna Carney, owner of Donna’s College Square Laundromat. Earlier this year, she said, there was an incident in which a skateboarder broke the window of her 12-year-old business.

After a brief public hearing, the council voted 6 to 1 to post and enforce the ban. Councilman Ray Di Guilio abstained. Although the shopping centers are on private property, the council must approve an ordinance prohibiting such activities for the ban to be enforced by Ventura police.

The council’s action came a week before the panel is scheduled to discuss a proposed location for a skate park.

City leaders have said they want to build a facility for Ventura skateboarders so they can practice their sport in a park instead of on private property or public sidewalks.

The council has earmarked $350,000 in the city’s budget to build a skate park.