The bustling Scotts Valley Skate Park might officially open to scooters sometime this year, after scooter riders inundated the park during the oft-sunny Christmas vacation.
Scotts Valley’s city code excludes scooters from using the skate park, but the law had rarely been enforced, until recent complaints that groups of mostly young scooter riders were impeding skateboarders.
Several times in the past few weeks, police have directed large groups of scooter riders to leave the park while enforcing the city code. Now, city leaders are looking into making the park legal for scooters.
According to skateboarders, the problem is inexperienced riders who end up in the path of skaters, especially when the park is busy.
“I think, personally, that scooters get in the way,” said 16-year-old skateboarder Rudy Zeiss of Santa Cruz. “But it all depends on the person riding the scooter. I fell the other day because a scooter kid cut me off.”
That’s not to say the skateboarders have a feud with scooter riders, most say — only that the park gets crowded.
“I think it’s younger kids and some mid-teens with a bad attitude,” said Sage Wilkinson, another skateboarder from Santa Cruz. “They need to be respectful. They’re not too conscientious of the ethics of the park.
Skate park right-of-way guidelines are hard to pin down, except that it’s important to be aware of other riders’ momentum and to allow those already in motion to continue their ride without cutting them off.
Michael McDermott, a 19-year-old who has been skating at the park since it opened in 2004, said understanding the rules comes with experience.
“Scooters come in here and roam around without paying attention,” he said. “Older ones that have been here a while, they understand.”
McDermott said the safety of riders requires being aware of others.
Jane Babb, a Los Gatos resident, brought four scooter riders and a skateboarder to the park this week.
“If everybody has helmets on, I don’t see any difference,” Babb said. “I think skaters and scooters should coexist.”
Another skater, Jacob Dennis of Scotts Valley, said he figures the park is simply overcrowded at times.
“It’s just getting too hectic,” he said. “I decked a kid the other day, by accident.”
Tanner Steen, a 12-year-old scooter rider from Scotts Valley, offered one possible solution.
“I think they should make an age limit,” he said, “because the little kids get in the way, and we don’t.”
Rather than citing scooter riders for using the park, Parks and Recreation Director Conrad Sudduth and Scotts Valley police officers have talked with a number of children and parents about the city ordinance that bans scooters.
That ordinance may change, however, to allow scooters in the park. Sudduth said the Parks and Recreation Commission will discuss the topic at its Jan. 19 meeting and may recommend to the City Council that scooters be allowed in the park.
He said the park should ideally be open to everybody.
“To me, it’s really kind of a plus,” Sudduth said. “It means the place is getting used, and that’s a good thing.”
If the commission recommended the change, the council would host two public hearings before changing the ordinance to decide whether scooters should be allowed.
City Councilman Jim Reed said he has requested to put the issue on the agenda for the first City Council meeting of February, scheduled for Feb. 1.
“I think our code needs to change,” said Reed, whose 12-year-old son sometimes rides a scooter in the park. “I think scooters and skateboarders can co-exist in the park.
Reed said that, while the city is not liable for injuries, his main concern is that riders wear helmets in the park.
The city is not responsible for injuries incurred in the park, because, as state law requires, it has posted rules in place, and those rules are enforced by police. On average, Reed said, police make three contacts a day with people at the skate park, often to ensure skaters are wearing helmets.
