Site Still Sought for Skateboard Park

After rejecting a recommendation to name Promenade Park as the site of a future skateboarding park, the City Council has asked city staff members to look again at building costs and other locations.

But city officials and skate park advocates said Tuesday they have spent nearly two years hunting for an acceptable site, and questioned whether a better venue could be found.

“In our opinion, we wouldn’t have brought this one forward if we thought there was a better site,” said Bill Byerts, manager of the city’s parks department. “There is no perfect location out there.”

Plans for a skate park were launched two years ago after youths complained that police were running them out of their favorite skating spots.

The council agreed not to enforce no-skating bans until a park site could be found, and it earmarked $350,000 to build a skate facility.

But as parks officials struggled to find a suitable location, the council went ahead and approved bans on skateboarding, bicycling and in-line skating on downtown sidewalks and in several Ventura shopping centers.

Skaters again pushed their cause, and this month Promenade Park--located at Figueroa Street and the beach promenade--was selected as the best site.

On Monday, however, residents of a nearby condominium complex told the council that a skate park would be disruptive. A developer who wants to build near Promenade Park also urged the council to pick a different site.

The council voted 4 to 3 against designating Promenade Park as a skate park site. The council later agreed in a 6-1 vote to have staff members return in a month with information on construction costs and other sites.