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Published on 06/12/1996 All articles from this issue

Skateboard task force wheels in plans for park

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

Boys glided into the meeting on Rollerblades. Skateboards werestored under the chairs. Helmets, pads and other gear coveredtable tops.

Some 21 kids enthusiastically checked out drawings of ramps andrails for a skateboard and Rollerblade park the city is helpingthem plan.

Los Altos Mayor Patti Williams led this second meeting June 3of the city-sponsored youth task force on skating which was heldat the Hillview Community Center. The goal: to open a skatingarea for weekends and holidays in the parking lot at the HillviewCenter by the first Saturday in July.

"I want you to have a safe place (to skate) and a place thatdoesn't damage private or public property," Williams said.

She had started receiving complaints about the skating in downtownLos Altos. She said she had seen the damage and wanted to "nipit in the bud."

Currently there is no penalty for skating downtown, she said.

"But if you're causing damage or using wax (on the curbs)- that's trespass or vandalism," Los Altos Police OfficerMatt Hartley told the group. "We won't be taking away yourboard - we'll have you doing community service. We don't mindyou skating. It's the vandalism, the damage."

Williams said she hopes that if the kids plan the area they willcome and use it.

Los Altos High School student Neal Yung and his subcommittee sharedtheir sketches of ramps and rails.

He encouraged the group to let him know if there's "anythingyou guys want to add."

They liked what they saw but worried about costs. Williams delegatedfund-raising and sponsorship planning to the subcommittee.

When she asked if any had equipment to donate, hands went up allover the room.

The skaters also said they would like to skate on week days aswell as during the weekends.

Bob Rayl, Los Altos recreation director, told the group he wasevaluating opening up the side parking lot for weekdays duringthe summer. But there are so many activities at Hillview, he wouldhave to see how the traffic in and out was and how the weekendskating went.

After the meeting, Egan School seventh-grader Travis Gaskell saidhe was worried about their equipment getting vandalized. He hopedit could be stored so it would be safe.

The new city ordinance for skating, modeled on a state law, requiresthat skaters wear a helmet, elbow and knee pads.

There will not be posted hours, Rayl said. On Friday nights barricadeswill go up to close off the parking lot to cars, and these willstay up all weekend.

The skating will start July 6 and there will be a grand openingsometime in July, Williams said.

The next task force meeting will be June 25, 4 p.m., in the HillviewCommunity Center, Room A, 97 Hillview Ave.