$150K+ Skate Park Fence Approved by Council, Construction Could Begin by September

Construction on a fence to inclose Imperial Beach’s Skate Park could begin as early as September after a unanimous City Council vote approved a contract with Harris Steel Fence Company at their meeting Wednesday.

With a price tag of $131,420, an 8-foot high fence designed to match the fence currently surrounding the Sports Park and Recreation Center will be erected around the Skate Park. Including design and administrative costs, the project is estimated to cost $155,000.

After receiving a number of complaints from local community members, the fence concept was approved . Four community members, including 79-year-old Bob Miller, spoke at the Aug. 3 meeting to express support for a fence.

“From the first day, there were people who did not follow the rules,” Miller said. “(People are) supposed to leave at dusk and not be there before dawn. They were there sometimes throughout the night and the noise level kept people awake.”

Many residents said they supported the idea of the park but wanted a more regulated area.

“The idea is once you have a fence, you have a gate. Now, when the Sheriff comes by, you can cite individuals as the leave,” Miller said. “You have the ability to enforce the rules.”

Lieutenant Marco Garmo of the San Diego Sheriff's Department said the Skate Park had the highest volume of calls for service in Imperial Beach in 2011.

During its first six months, it received 40 calls for service and 159 deputy-initiated actions. This compared to 11 calls for service and 88 deputy-initiated actions at the same location prior to the skate park opening.

“A majority of the calls were after hours. A locked gate will resolve many of those issues,” Garmo said. “My goal is to decrease calls for service to that location so that deputies can remain ‘in service’ to handle priority calls and serve the community.”

Garmo said calls concerning juveniles can be extremely time consuming. In many cases, a parent needs to be notified and arrangements made in order for a juvenile to be picked up. The process can take hours, he said.

Most calls were categorized as disturbances, predominately fights, said Garmo. Several calls referenced the usage of marijuana in and around the skate park, said Detective Sgt. Jeffrey Duckworth. Whether any arrests were made for marijuana use was not able to be determined before publication.

Diego Vargas, 19, can be seen cruising down Palm Avenue on his skateboard or at the skate park almost every day. Before a skate park was built locally he would travel to skate parks in Chula Vista and other parts of San Diego, and when he didn't feel like going far from home, skated Pier Plaza or hopped fences to skate in other parts of the city.

He thinks a fence may not do much to discourage other skaters.

"People wouldn't let a fence stop it," he said. "We still hop fences for spots that were not allowed to skate so this wouldn't really wouldn't make a difference."

When asked if tickets or fines would make him think twice he said, "That's what happens [when we skate] in other spots."

"People will still try and hop it. Probably more graffiti will happen. I don't know, people will rebel I guess," he said.

In an ongoing review of rules and regulations, council also discussed hours of operation, allowing scooters and a community incentives program to discourage violations – particularly neglecting to wear pads and helmets.

“Citations are primarily related to helmets and the pads – whether juveniles or adults,” said Tom Clark, director of the city's Public Safety Department and Chief of the Imperial Beach Fire Department.

And the citations are costly. Currently, the first citation stands at $100. A second citations is $200 and a third citation jumps to $500. A fourth citation and all subsequent citations will cost $1000.

A nine-person stakeholder committee, including five residents, two skateboarders and two city staff members, discussed several of the above topics and presented council with several alternatives.

Opening was suggested at 11 a.m. While the committee supported the idea of a 9 a.m. opening time, Clark said it would be difficult to find a consistent city official to open the gate at that time. The 11 a.m. alternative didn’t sit well with most members of the council.

“I think it’s safe to say I’m the only person who has skated the skate park who’s sitting up here and 11 a.m. is kind of late,” said Councilman Brian Bilbray. “As one of the older kids, I like to get out there a little bit earlier than the younger kids. It’s kind of disheartening when you have 15-year-olds showing you up.”

Councilman Jim King and Councilwoman Lorie Bragg also expressed dismay at the 11 a.m. open time.

While Councilman Edward Spriggs didn’t object to an earlier start time, he did point out that many of the other skate parks in San Diego have a 10 a.m. or later start time.

Clark and City Manager Gary Brown said they would explore earlier start time alternatives.  

Chris Singleton, 17, got involved with efforts to raise money to create a skate park and at the time he said was told it could be built to allow bike usage.

He said most people who attend the park ride without helmets, and on Thursday afternoon, of more than 20 skaters, Razor scooter and bike riders, only one was wearing a helmet.

Riding BMX bikes has been against the rules since the skate park opened last November. He and several other bike riders still use the park and want to start a petition or some kind of action to allow bikes to use the area.

He attends Mar Vista Learning Center from 10 a.m. to noon and typically comes to the skate park in the morning to ride his bike before class and "late at night." He disagrees with the idea of outlawing bikes, reducing hours and installing a fence because ultimately it could mean fewer people use the skate park and go elsewhere.

"I told the mayor on opening day 'Would you rather we be riding at the skate park built for us or around town you're trying to make look nice?'"

Closing time rather than opening hours was a more important matter to many of the local residents at Wednesday's meeting. Currently suggested closing times are 6 p.m. during Pacific Standard Time and 8 p.m. during Daylight Savings Time.

“Once we have set hours, people should have a much better understanding of what’s expected,” said Mayor Jim Janney.

The committee also suggested changing regulations to allow limited scooter use and upholding the BMX bike ban.

Public Safety director Tom Clark emphasized that while scooters could be accommodated, the park was not built with bikes in mind. King, Brag and Bilbray agreed with allowing scooter usage.

“Many smaller kids begin on razors,” King said. “That’s where they learn, that’s where they get their wits. My son, hell, half the kids I know, started on razors. It’s kind of unfair to limit them from that activity.”

Although committee members suggested no scooter users over 16 years of age, this was ultimately rejected by council in order to avoid a difficult-to-enforce rule.

“It’s my perception that many razor scooter users are younger anyway,” said Bilbray. “Once you hit 14 or 15, there’s a lot of peer pressure out there to get something better.”

When a community incentives program to encourage rule enforcement was brought up, Janney encouraged the idea but did not support city hall getting involved because of liability concerns.

“Number one - we have to protect the city,” Janney said. “What we would like to do and what our legal friends, including our own city attorney, would like us to do complicates things. I don’t think we want to cross that line.”

Skate Park rules and regulations will continue to be discussed at a future Council meeting.