Letter: Scooter invasion deprives skaters of park access

EDITOR,
Anyone who frequents the Scotts Valley Skate Park has surely seen the rise in scooters lately. So much so that it’s now become a problem and safety hazard. On any weekend, there are around 10 to 15 skaters and 30 to 40 scooters.
They zip everywhere, with no regard for anyone, and cut right in front of you without looking or caring. They act as if the whole place is just for them. It’s not; it’s for skateboarding.
I always look out and yield the right-of-way to kids, but I have come close many times to smashing into them. It’s annoying. And, of course, it would be considered the skater’s fault. Skaters are usually older and know to look out. These kids are often too young to know that, and there’s way too many.
I often have to wait for a break in the scooter traffic to go. It’s not fair to take the skate park away from the skaters and give it to kids. This is a place for big kids to do a dangerous sport, not a little kiddy playground.
Many skaters I talk with say they won’t even go to Scotts Valley anymore, because it’s too overcrowded with scooters, and I suppose that’s what you want.
That’s a shame. This was supposed to be for skaters.
Scooters hang out on the “Twinkie” — the concrete roll-in part halfway down into the big bowl shaped like a big Twinkie. They hang out there and block the way for skaters to roll in from the top.
They hog the biggest bowl for themselves. Actually, they hog every bowl and are always in the way. They’re a nuisance.
They’ve completely overrun, taken over and ruined it for skaters.
We don’t mind sharing the skate park with a few bikes or scooters, but you don’t seem to want to share it with us. Bikes are not allowed, so why scooters? If scooters can go, why not bicycles, tricycles, go-karts or any other wheeled vehicle you might want to roll around on down some ramps and have fun on?
Scotts Valley Municipal Code 7.10.020 says that no person in a skateboard park shall ride, operate, or utilize any device other than a skateboard or skates.
Scooters should be banned like everything else.
Rich LeBlanc, Scotts Valley