Southern York County Life

Isn’t there a skateboard or a loitering ordinance here in town.  For the last couple weeks i’ve seen kids skating at the m&t;bank on some sort of homemade pipe thing and the police never say anything to them.  It doesn’t really bother me that they are skating just the fact that i hear them yelling the “F” word till dark.  Thanks to daylight savings time it is later this week than last.  I think they have a pretty good idea that they shouldn’t be there because they don’t drag there jumping equipment out until the bank employees leave.

The police officer road through the lot tonight around 6 and never said a word and the kids didn’t scatter either.

The ordinances regarding skateboarding and loitering are posted on http://www.stewartstown.org.  From the home page, select the “Ordinances” button on the left hand menu, and then refer to the “Skateboard Restrictions”.  Basically, commercial property must be posted if the owner does not permit skateboarding.

I agree with you that it isn’t the skateboarding that is the nuisance – it’s the language.  Think it’s worth talking to them and explaining that their language could result in complaints that would compel the bank to prohibit skateboarding?  Given a choice, I’d hope they’d prefer profanity-free skateboarding as opposed to no skateboarding at all.

A quick update.
The M&T;bank folks were in contact with our Police Department. The new ordinance requires that No Skateboarding etc. be properly posted on commercial properties before the ordinance can be enforced.
M&T;will be making the necessary adjustments so that we can enforce the ordinance at their facility.

Jeff Bruening
Councilman, Stewartstown Borough

I like seeing the children out skateboarding.  It’s better than them sitting inside all day watching tv and playing video games.  A lot of them are polite and are having a good time.  I think a lot of people would be more receptive to the skateboarding if there was less cursing and they were more polite with the people around them (i.e. not running over people).

I have no problem with children skateboarding, it is where they skateboard.  In the past week we have gone to Summer’s Snowballs twice.  Both times there were 8-10 kids skateboarding there, even though there is a sign saying it is not allowed.  The first time we saw a boy skate into the intersection and fall down in the middle of the road.  Last night we saw a different boy skate into the road right in front of an SUV.  The driver had to slam on his brakes.  The boy laughed about it. 

I fear that someone is going to get hurt or worse if this continues.

Has there been any thought or discussion by the borough to build a skateboard park.  I know liability is a huge issue with that but I have noticed a lot of small towns are building them so there must be a way to avoid the liability.  Seems like it would be a good addition by the community center. 

Otter,

Not sure how much discussion there has been on council in the past regarding a skate park.  It has been brought up in discussions about plans for the Plank Road recreation area before though.

There are certainly liability issues that would have to be addressed and that are a major concern with a project like this.  I would think it would have to be an unsupervised “skate at your own risk” facility, otherwise it needs constant supervision.  Many of the small town skate parks you mention are exactly this, unsupervised so there is no direct liability the borough.  Many require parent signed waivers as well.

The project would need an appropriate site, and would certainly involve much planning, years of planning I would imagine as many of these projects do, as well as extensive involvement from community (both parents and youth).  Funding is important, since to build a quality skate park kids will enjoy and utilize, it has to be a quality project, a quality project will generally mean a higher material cost.  Skate park construction is not cheap, you can buy lots of pre-fab at a higher cost, but construction and building ramps especially is not hard, especially if materials and local building skills are donated to the project.  Much of cost relates to design as well, will it be mostly a street skating course, or a large half-pipe as the focal point, or a blend of both.

Organizations like the Tony Hawk Foundation give grants to start public skate parks to municipalities every year. Gettysburg got a $2000 grant in 2002, not much but I’m sure it helps.  There are other organizations that could probably assist as well.

I doubt the council would make a go of a project like this alone as most of the small town skate parks involve huge involvement from community formed organizations and that is the starting point much of the time for these projects.  The following link shows a lot of the important points and issues to think about when starting a skate park project. 

http://www.sk8parkinfo.com/getpark/?printer_friendly

That page also has the stories of many towns and the process they went through, what the result was, including pictures and stories. One of those stories about a town getting started is below…

“More and more businesses were complaining that their sidewalks and parking areas were being “taken over” by skateboarders. Signs were beginning to go up all over town prohibiting skateboarding, even on the school grounds. It became clear that a solution was needed for everyone… so a citizen’s skatepark committee was formed to make a skatepark happen in our community.  Our committee developed a letterhead with logo and sent out solicitation letters to every business, organization and church in our area. In every piece of publicity we always encouraged donations from individuals. We raised around $3,000 from these sources. We received a $5,000 grant from a local foundation , and the rest of the money came from car washes, bottle and can drives, raffles, donation jars at various restaurants and bars, and a Krispy Kreme donut sale.“

Hmmmmmmm, the first couple sentences sure sound familiar

Although this would be a challenging process, I would certainly be a supporter of a project like this if it got up and running.  A former skater myself in the 80’s when my body didn’t creak and pop as much, I’ve been personally involved with building 4 large half-pipes and would certainly provide whatever assistance I could on the project whether for planning or implementation.

Sorry so long folks! 

edited by: Chris_McGraw, Apr 22, 2005 - 10:33 AM

Link to Tony Hawk Foundation “how to start a skatepark” page, another good resource on getting started....

http://www.tonyhawkfoundation.org/how_to_get_a_skatepark.asp

The Hopewell Area Recreation & Parks board have a skate park/area on the agenda of “things to do”
We met last week with the folks from Hopewell Township and a skateboard area was on their list of wants and everyone agreed that there is a need.

The key item at this point is (a) finding an location on the current facility that is not used by (soccer, baseball, etc...).. If we wait there will be matching grants, and other free money coming to us… It’s a matter of timing…

The Rec.Board has many documents about starting a skate park, I’ve also visited the skatepark in Cockeysville MD and spoke with the Baltimore County Parks/Recreation folks and have many of the ideas/contacts/costs/procedure etc…

I should note many times I asked that those parents/children who want a skate park to come and attend a Recreation Board meeting. We’d like to hear your ideas, we’d welcome someone to assist in getting the ball rolling, quotes, funding etc..

I’m pretty sure that the board would welcome a group of parents who wanted a skate park to attend the meeting, possible create a “skate park committe” to discuss the many issues and to get the ball rolling..

In the mean time the board is not agressively chasing kids away because we know they have no where else to go to skate.
If however there are complaints’ they the kids will be chased away or citations issued.

If you would be interested in serving on a “Skatepark committee” you can private message me here or send e-mail to and we can discuss the projects current status, and what we see as some of the next steps....

Jeff Bruening
Councilman, Stewartstown Borough
Boardmember, Hopewell Area Recreation & Parks.

I realize that there is not a skate park for the skate boarders to use.  Even though the community fair grounds has a posted no skate boarding sign, I again understand why the police sit in the church parking lot and don’t stop the kids from doing it.  What I do not understand it the destruction that is being caused to the pavilion, the Scout house, and the community building.  Take a trip over there and look around.  You can see the human waste that was smeared on the Scout house door.  You can also see the holes in the siding from sticks that they jam through it.  Look at the rain gutters at the pavilion and on the community center building, from the skate boarders crashing into them.  Then take a look at the pavilion picnic tables, and the baseball sign while you are there.

It is a sad state of affairs when kids vandelize public property. There is no reason to do so. I spent many Monday evenings in the Scout House when I was younger. We were forever fixing damage or replacing stolen items from break ins.

I often wonder why they do it. I was a kid once too and never had a desire to destroy property. Of course, I am sure I will get flamed by someone, but frankly I think the problem is the parents. My parents would have kicked my tail if I did something like this and I knew it. They taught me right from wrong.

It ticks me off to see kids that want a place to play, go out and destroy public property. Then they get ticked because no one wants them around. Duh.

If the police catch them, I think the parents should be held responsible. Not just monetarilly… money is too easy to throw around. Charge them with the crime since they did not keep their kids in line. 

My suggestion would be for the parents to take their kids over to the skate park on the trail. Mr Bob always has room for 1 more! It seems to be a great environment and at least they can help teach the younger kids as well. It seems to me that the parents of these kids are “just too busy” to take 10 minutes to give them a ride. Skate park pool if you need to. But it’s the parents who need to remember that they had kids to enjoy. Do these parents really know where their kids are??? Fine the parents for not giving rules. I feel sorry for the kids whose parents have not taken the time to watch what they learn and hey! Give it a try yourselves...you might find that your kids can teach you something as well!

the best place to build a skate park is at the current fair grounds, how many parents will allow their children to go all the way out to the landfill property.  Another concern is what will the fair grounds be like after the park goes in.  I see the busted rainspouts, the concrete barriers that are drug up on the back porch of the building and not put back.  if a few are creating this damage, what will happen with many many more. “ unsupervised” could lead to trouble.

First off, I am a mother of skateboarders and I want to thank some of you for labeling me and my children.

Anyway, how about the area down by the basketball courts, the un-paved parking lot that is not used much. It seems big enough for a skateboarding area, is it owned by the rec? Any comments to that idea.

Well I too am a parent of a skateboarder he is a good boy and is very polite.  He uses his manors or he gets put in his place.  I do agree some KIDS not just skateboarders get out of control but skating has little to do with it.  I also hate to see parents complain about children out in town staking.  We were all children and we all did things outside where we lived.  Parents are supposed to be the responsible ones that educate children and teach them. We need to educate them that they get run off from skating not because of what they are doing but how they are acting.  You think a teacher would know this.  He would set an example to other parents. 
As for a community skate park I would welcome this.  My son has spent many hours at Mr Bob’s skate park, but not all parents can spare $7 a day to have their child skate. We need to give the children a place to skate freely and with out community complaints.  Once they have a place to skate we can steer them there and away from curbs and parking lots in town.  I can honestly say that I am dis-heartened by adult reactions to kids being kids.  We need to help them and steer them towards adulthood.  If we treat them as people and not “KIDS” we can expect more from them and I beleive our children will deliver.

edited by: faloni, Apr 26, 2005 - 01:47 PM

Not that I’m taking anyone’s side, because I don’t have children and I don’t live near the mentioned problem area.  I’m not out to label anyone or their children.  However, I was young once, and even though my mother may have thought that we were polite, well-mannered and behaved children, (which we were - for fear of a ‘whoopin’), when we were ‘hanging out’ with our friends skateboarding or riding bikes, it wouldn’t have been uncommon for us to misbehave - especially when our parents weren’t around.  And heaven knows profanity wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities!