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Indian Rocks hears 'not cool' on skatepark
By RYAN MALDONADO and AMY WIMMER The clatter of skateboards "ollieing" off 3-foot ramps at 9 at night didn't drive one Gulfport resident out of her apartment building. In fact, it brought her there. Shelly Den Boer, a resident at the Bayfront Villas Apartment complex, moved to Gulfport last year because of the skateboard park located directly in front of her building. The park was built more than a year ago for parents like Den Boer, who have kids with recreational needs that go beyond the traditional basketball court. "I wish they had more of them around," Den Boer said. "I chose this area because of the skatepark." Throughout Pinellas, municipalities looking to keep up with changing recreation needs are turning to skateparks, where kids can pull off stunts that would get them ejected from the downtown business districts and shopping mall parking lots they used to use as their skateboard playgrounds. Indian Rocks Beach had planned to become the next community to build a public skatepark in Pinellas, joining Clearwater, Dunedin, Gulfport and St. Pete Beach. But two weeks ago, a group of residents who live near Kolb Park and say they only recently learned that a skatepark was being added to their neighborhood, urged city commissioners to reconsider the plan. "We didn't know about it," city resident Paul Carlson said Friday. Carlson cited traffic and liability concerns and reasons to keep the skatepark out of Kolb Park. "It was just going to sneak right in there." Doors for skateparks were opened in 1999, when the state Legislature passed a law removing some liability restrictions to opening parks for skateboarders, inline skaters and freestyle bicyclists. The state law made it possible for cities to open skateparks without the paralyzing fear of a lawsuit. The opposition in Indian Rocks Beach is similar to concerns raised in Dunedin, where a skatepark was built in a neighborhood park more than a year ago. Since then, however, the city has had few complaints. City Manager John Lawrence even called the skatepark plan "flawless." "So far, it hasn't been a real big problem, which we're real happy about," said Vivian Scott, a Dunedin resident who initially opposed the idea. "Our main concern to start with was that there would be a lot of traffic back and forth. Traffic hasn't really been a problem." Poul Hornsleth, a broker at Caldwell Realty in Gulfport, said the skatepark is part of the city's changing demographics. "I think having activities for youth is important -- the population of school-age children has grown dramatically over the last quarter of the century," Hornsleth said. "We've pushed hard to get facilities for constructive youth activities." Gulfport's skatepark was so well-received that the city now plans to build a second one on the opposite side of town. Gulfport residents who live at the Bayfront Villas Apartment complex across the street from the skatepark in the Gulfport Recreation Center have voiced few complaints against noisy youth. "I'm pleased they have a place like that where kids can share their talents and be with their friends," said Richard Haynes, who has lived in his apartment near the park for three months. "The center does a great job -- every night between 9 and 10 p.m., they shut the lights off." Two residents said the skatepark sometimes generates trespassers at night. "It's good for the kids . . . if they would just stay over there," said resident Kurt Stephens, who said he has spotted kids from the skatepark using the apartment complex's private pool at night. "We've had to call the police several times, but generally they behave." And kids have few alternatives as far as behavior is concerned. Gulfport police have arranged a monitoring system that ensures that each of their patrol unit stops by the recreation center once every hour. Police Officer Mike Torres said his job is mainly to make sure the skaters are following the center's rules, which includes using a helmet at all times and for kids under 18, parental consent. "We come out here to make sure kids see we're out here," Torres said. "If you want to skate, you've got to follow the rules." The situation is similar in Dunedin, where Lawrence, the city manager, said the Sheriff's Office, which handles law enforcement for the city, often patrols near the skatepark. "It's used very extensively, and we haven't had a single problem." A group of residents who live near Kolb Park have recently complained that the Sheriff's Office does not provide enough patrols of a nearby problem residence. Following the meeting two weeks ago where several residents voiced opposition to the skatepark, the Indian Rocks Beach City Commission told City Manager Tom Brobeil to investigate other locations for the facility. On Friday, Brobeil said none of the other options seemed appropriate for a skatepark. Restrictions on how the nature preserve is to be used might forbid a skatepark. And using Chic-A-Si Park, Brobeil said, is "a horrible idea." While Kolb Park is in a neighborhood that children could access, Chic-A-Si Park is in a commercial area. "It would be better that we have no skatepark at all than to have it in Chic-A-Si Park," he said. "It's well away from the areas where all the kids live." Carlson and his neighbors are also concerned about the skatepark attracting out-of-town children. Carlson, who lives 200 feet from the park, said he hears basketball players using the court after hours and cursing late at night. "At Kolb Park, they already have a basketball court, two shuffleboard courts, . . . a picnic area," he said. "I think we have plenty there already. It's just overdone."
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