Falling Short of Goal

A feud between residents along Cumberland Road and the owner of Stuart’s Rollerworld has gone around curves as steep and circular as any skateboard ramp.

For three years, ever since the roller-hockey rink opened at the Super Sports complex at Canal Street and Meats Avenue, the neighbors and owner Stuart Silver have faced off before the City Council, the Orange Unified School Board, the Planning Commission--twice--and the council--again.

Now, the idea that seemed so logical then might be headed for court.

Officials who approved the large sports complex at a vacant junior high school saw it as an opportunity to clean up an eyesore building that was attracting vagrants, firebugs, street gangs and vandals.

The school board, which had been bombarded with complaints about the old building, welcomed a project offering constructive physical activity for the city’s youth.

In September 1994, the trustees offered a 20-year lease to Super Sports Golf & Recreation Center for a golf driving range, soccer fields, a running course, a community center and a roller-hockey rink on the 21-acre school site.

The reality, however, turned out to be quite different from the concept, neighbors said.

Golf balls started flying into backyards at potentially lethal speeds, residents said, and the sharp crack of the hockey puck against the goal resounded through the formerly quiet neighborhood. Residents also complained of sports fans yelling and carrying sometimes profane disagreements into the streets after games.

Homeowners told city officials that they could no longer enjoy their own backyards and or leave their windows open on balmy summer nights because of the noise.

“Roller hockey itself is not the problem,” neighbor Richard Elgas said. “It is a beautiful concept, a great thing for young and old alike--but in the wrong place.”

But the parents of hundreds of children who have grown to love the game pleaded with officials to let the rink continue to operate as it is.

“It’s a place for kids to go,” parent John Aleccia said. “It keeps them off the street and out of trouble.”

The owners and managers of the recreation complex have taken a number of measures to address residents’ concerns. They put up higher fencing to block errant golf balls, and they brought in noise experts. They enforced a 10 p.m. closing time, even though that occasionally forced championship games to end before the winners could be determined.

And, to cut the noise, owner Silver put a canvas dome over the rink. But that well-intentioned move stirred up a whole new controversy because neighbors said the dome was unsightly.

It is “extremely unattractive,” Mayor Joanne Coontz said at a public hearing on the issue earlier this month.

Because dust clings to the fabric of the dome, it looks like a down-on-its-luck circus tent, city officials and homeowners said.

Silver offered to install a more attractive permanent roof, and several city boards seemed to be near an agreement with him--except for one final sticking point.

The city wants Silver to agree to end all games 9 p.m. instead of 10. The City Council recently voted 4 to 1 to not budge from that requirement.

That is unacceptable, Silver said, because games and practices do not start until 6 p.m. when parents are home from work and can transport their children.

“I want to conform, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” Silver said. “But I cannot operate this facility and close it at 9 p.m.”

Options, he said, include removing the tent, which would make noise a prime issue again, or moving the facility altogether.

Silver suggested that the only way to settle the issue now might be through legal action.

“I’m not here to fight with the city,” he said. “We can let our [legal] counsel do that.”

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NORTHEAST ORANGE

Bounded by: Mall of Orange on Canal Street, Cumberland Road on the north, Meats Avenue on the south, Chouteau Street on the west

Population: About 100

Hot topic: Noise, lights and late hours at Stuart’s Rollerworld, Super Sports Golf & Recreation Center