Camp Hill council yanks proposed skateboard ban

[skategeezer]

Camp Hill council yanks proposed skateboard ban


Thursday, April 12, 2007 BY ELLEN LYON
Of The Patriot-News
A proposal to ban skateboarding in Camp Hill slid into oblivion last night after numerous adults, and two girls who skateboard as a hobby, spoke against the idea at a borough council meeting.

"I really like skateboarding, and I think it's unfair that you should punish everybody because of what a few kids are doing. I don't think skateboarding and vandalism have anything to do with each other, and I think you should just do something about vandalism," London Stever, 11, told the council. "A few bad kids shouldn't ruin it for the rest of the kids that like to skateboard," Sarah Magaro, 13, said.


Council President Rick McBride said a ban was proposed because of concerns about safety and property damage. "After listening tonight, I am willing to withdraw" the idea, McBride said as the council concurred and the audience applauded. The council had a harder time letting go of a draft ordinance that would have closed Willow Park to minors from sunset to sunrise unless they were accompanied by an adult. Neighbors who live adjacent to the park between North 24th and North 25th streets have complained about kids gathering there on warm nights.

"It starts at around dusk. The kids just start showing up like mayflies. They start congregating under that light," Jay Prensky of North 24th Street told the council. "We like to keep our windows open, and we can't do it." Prensky said the children make a lot of noise, have vandalized a fence and have left beer and soda cans, trash and condoms in his bushes.
Councilwoman Liesl Beckley said she couldn't support a curfew. "So, essentially, we're saying to our children, when the sun goes down, you're done. There's no place for you to go," she said. "This problem is being brought on by children who aren't being disciplined by their parents," Councilman Wayne Weber Jr. said. Weber said the borough is about to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to rehabilitate Willow Park. He urged the council to protect that investment. Council finally agreed to a proposal by Beckley to warn youths that a curfew will be imposed if they don't improve their behavior in the park. "Give them a chance," she said.


The council agreed to ask the school district to hold an assembly where borough officials can talk to middle school and high school students about the problem. It also plans to send fliers to parents and kids.

Although several midstate communities have restricted skateboarding or banned it altogether, Camp Hill isn't the only municipality to put the brakes on such an idea.
Neighboring Wormleysburg's council has indefinitely tabled a proposal to ban skateboarding. "They've basically put it on hold while they investigate the proposed skateboard park," borough manager Gary Berresford said yesterday.

Dennis Redding, chairman of the borough's recreation board, has suggested putting a skateboard park inside the North Second Street Park. Redding said he recently visited Derry Twp.'s skateboard park, which is scheduled to open on May 2. "I thought that was awesome. It's a real nice park. It's probably a little more grandiose than we're looking at," Redding said.

[rumsurfer]

damn straight


i would just hunt down those freekin' idiots ruining the fun for everyone else

[EBasil]

Right on. Treat vandals as vandals and let kids be kids. I like this new trend and I love to see it covered.

[bucksaw87]

it's just too bad that it doesn't work like that everywhere

[Momona Boe]

how is it that I don't know a single name in that article? I thought I knew all of the Canuckistan skaters!

[rumsurfer]

how is it that I don't know a single name in that article? I thought I knew all of the Canuckistan skaters!

Shite.. here come the Canuckistans again...

[skategeezer]

Camp Hill, new Jersey....

[Momona Boe]

Camp Hill, new Jersey....

BOLLOCKS! I DO know all 7 skateboarders in Jersey!

[KIDvoxVISCIOUS]

damn straight


i would just hunt down those freekin' idiots ruining the fun for everyone else

hallelujah hollaback

[dwf137]

Camp Hill, new Jersey....

camp hill is in Pennsylvania. It's a suburb of Harrisburg, PA's capital

Check out where Patriot News is from, it's not New Jersey.

Glad do see this got taken down... It might be time to write into the local paper and get the local skateboarding ban lifted...

[The Green Hornet]

Part of me thinks skateboarding sucks, but if there's no skate park or good spot to skate than the townspeople need to shut up. We were skating at the jr high school one time, and a cop rolled up and said that it's okay to skate here cause he'd rather have us there than the bank where they freak out and call the cops. Sometimes longboarders get discriminated like they were skateboarders, most of the kids around here suck too much to do grinds anyways people around Livonia just like to be pricks, this one teacher wanted to ban bikes and skateboarding. My one friend aaron broke his ankle skateboarding and a teacher asked him what happend and he said "broke it skateboarding (staircase)" and the asshole teacher says "See you weren't supposed to be doing that". bah

[purplegoat]

this one teacher wanted to ban bikes and skateboarding. My one friend aaron broke his ankle skateboarding and a teacher asked him what happend and he said "broke it skateboarding (staircase)" and the asshole teacher says "See you weren't supposed to be doing that". bah

Some people just don't want others to have fun. It's almost like they are not happy so why should they let you be happy. I think we need to show respect to these people but at the same time express our disagreement with their narrow mindedness.

[melifont monk]

...and sanity prevails....