12/02/1996 Park Board Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MANAGING THE SKATEBOARDING RISK Page 2 Lets dispel the myths that have surfaced in the above scenario right away. First, providing a public skateboarding facility will not, in and of itself, provide a long-term solution to skateboarding in public areas where its not appropriate. Providing a designated skateboarding facility, especially when it first opens and is a novelty, will tend to concentrate skateboarders in one area. Those persons with more highly developed skateboarding skills will tend to gravitate to such facilities and those with less highly developed skills may find the facilities becoming crowded and go back to the streets, sidewalks and parking lots. Second, providing such facilities will not be a direct solution to keeping skateboarding enthusiasts away from other, unwholesome activities. If that were the case, the public facilities and programs already in place would have already accomplished this. Lets face it -- this is an area where parents, guardians, schools and the entire community need to become involved from the very start with parenting and guidance activities. Communities should not feel obligated to "be all things to all people" if what they are being asked to do goes beyond its ability to adequately manage, on a long-term basis, the risks involved in the best interests and safety of the public and citizens of the community as a whole. Rfsk Management Considerations With the rise in popularity of skateboarding activity, some communities have, indeed, found that it fits their overall recreation facility and program planning to provide one or more facilities for skateboarding activity. These communities have generally done a thorough job of investigating all of the parameters of providing such a facility and weighed the cost vs. benefit factors. By the way, "costs" take a variety of forms -- from the costs of materials and labor, to long-term maintenance costs, to supervision and administration costs (including potentially increased insurance costs), to costs of injury and loss in conjunction with facility operations. Its also a good idea to involve the skateboarding enthusiasts who want the facility in the "exploration" and planning process. This can help them to have some "ownership" in the process and gain additional understanding of all the planning factors involved. Due to the dynamic potential of skateboarding activity, we do not recommend that unsupervised, "passive" skateboarding facilities be provided. Don't forget, if a community operates any kind of facility on its property, it will be responsible for the proper use, operation and maintenance of that facility. Hence, providing a supervised facility that can be secured from unauthorized use when not in operation is appropriate for this dynamic activity. Another consideration related to this is that if an unsupervised facility is provided that has r. only limited challenges, it will not be used and may become an "attractive nuisance" liability exposure to the community. SMTeoao.YWS