Skating facility gets a rolling start in Calabasas

Acorn Staff Writer


Kids in Calabasas will finally have a place to ride their skateboards or inline skates, temporarily at least, after the city council approved a three-month trial skate park last Wednesday.


The new park will actually be portable, with ramps and other accessories being placed on the basketball court at Gates Canyon Park for three to four hours a day, three days a week. Everything will be stored in rented containers when not in use.


The park will be supervised by a recreation coordinator and two recreation leaders, as well as volunteer parents, said John Keisler, community services director for the city.


Site considerations included restrooms, parking, proximity to neighborhoods, scenic corridors, water fountains, telephone and storage for the equipment.


The project is painstakingly three years in the making.


Discussions on the city developing a skate park started in June 1997, with the tragic death of a local youth while skating in the streets of Calabasas.


In August 1997, Save Our Skaters (SOS) approached the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission requesting a safe place for youth to skate, but the project didn’t take hold.


In 1998, SOS approached the city council requesting that it look further into the feasibility of a skate park. The city council directed its staff to form a skate park task force to research the location, liability, costs and impacts on the community. Several sites were considered, and feedback was received from area homeowners and citizens concerned about such things as traffic, vandalism, noise, parking and use by out-of-city youth.


A decision never was reached.


In March of this year, interim city manager Donald Duckworth recommended that the city council reconvene the task force.


`The task force met five times since early April, visited other such parks, discussed at length the needs of such a facility, and recommended to the Parks and Recreation Committee to approve the Gates Canyon Park site, which they did at their last meeting.


When the issue came to the city council last week, surprisingly few people spoke against the project.


"The room was filled with people opposed to (the Gates Canyon Park site) at previous (public) meetings," said City Councilman James Bozajian, an avid skater, who basically favored of the project.


"I hope we don’t make disparaging remarks about skaters," he told the council as they began their deliberations. "I am the ‘bad element’ that’s going to come into the skate park," he joked.


But serious issues loomed over the council.


Mayor Pro Tem Janice Lee questioned the notification of area neighborhoods and was concerned that hundreds of local homeowners didn’t know about the proposed skate park and public meeting about it.


Some negative issues raised by the few opponents at the meeting included noise, traffic, liability and out-of-towners using the facilities. One homeowner echoed Lee’s sentiments about notification, saying that he didn’t know about the meeting until three days before it took place.


Lee even questioned the presence of gangs in the area.


"Prior to this time, Gates Canyon did have a problems with gangs," said Lee.


Keisler told her he’d spoken with sheriff’s department officials who told him that Gates Canyon Park "was no different than any other."


However, area resident Jill Strauss told The Acorn that she had seen gang members in that park and had felt compelled to leave several times when they were there.


But for the most part, members of the audience at the council meeting supported the skate park and urged the council to approve it.


"Rich Mudge tried to boost the image of skaters and told the council that it is not a "punk sport." He grew up as a skater, but also was a Boy Scout, he said, who went on to college and now owns his own business in which he works with children.


"Kids need regulations. Kids have a real respect when there are rules," he said.


The council approved the temporary skate park, which will still take a month or two to put into place, with several conditions. They ordered that studies be done on noise and traffic, and specified the project be reassessed in three months time, with notification to all the neighbors to attend the council meeting with any complaints at that time.


"This can be shut down easily if it becomes a nuisance," said City Councilman Robert Sibilia.


"This is not a nuclear waste dump we’re putting in a residential area. This is for the children."


Perhaps the happiest and saddest person at the meeting Debbi Lewin, whose son, Jason, was the boy killed skating three years ago.


"It’s too late for me …let’s not make it too late for another child,’’ she implored.


Initial start-up costs to for the park will be $37,000, which includes a $4,000 noise study and future neighborhood notification.


It will cost $20,000 annually to maintain the park, with around $5,000 coming from user fees.





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