South Gate Skateboarders Unhappy With Sidewalk Prohibitions

Skateboarders throughout South Gate are not happy about the ordinance about skating on the sidewalks of business districts. With some believing that this is an unfair attack on their preferred choice of transportation.

“This is practically my vehicle,” said Marlin Chavez, 15, a skateboarder from South Gate. “It is my way to somewhere.”

Current business areas that will be affected include, Tweedy Boulevard, and others like Firestone Boulevard and El Paseo.   In-line skates, along with roller skates, and any other similar form of transportation, will also be included in the prohibition ordinance.

Skateboarding was already prohibited on the sidewalks of business districts. However, the city has put more strict measures to make the prohbition more effective. 

“This will give us some more teeth to get people to comply,” said George Troxcil, South Gate's City Manager, after yesterday’s City Council meeting. “This will now give us the opportunity to cite and confiscate the boards.”

City officials have said that it was business owners from commercial districts, such as Tweedy Boulevard, who are the main proponents of this ordinance.

“A lot of the local businesses were claiming that their shoppers did not have enough protection from skateboarders,” said South Gate's Vice-Mayor Gil Hurtado after yesterday's decision. People skateboarding are also being protected because of the posibility of a collision with pedestrians, claimed Hurtado.  “This will look out for everyone’s safety.”

However, one business owner from Tweedy Boulevard is not celebrating.

“[Skateboarding] is a mode of transportation for kids,” said Jackie Farfan, owner of which is also a skate shop. “It is frustrating for me because my music business is difficult, and now the city is doing this with skateboarding.”

Salvador Diaz, a skateboarder and current employee of Yuri's Records, also pointed to slow business throughout Tweedy Boulevard as a reason for not having to do this now.

“Before when business was booming, Tweedy Boulevard was crowded with people walking around, I could see the dangerous part of [skateboarding on sidewalks],” said Diaz. “Now business is so slow, that we do not see as many people walking around on the street, which makes [this ordinance] irrelevant.”

 For more information on the new restrictions click here. 

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