City council creates an account to gather funds for new park for skaters.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
The skateboarding community scored a victory at Malibu’s City Hall last week when City Council members unanimously gave their support for the construction of a new skateboard park. A group of skateboarders and a planning commissioner whose children skateboard told the council at its Quarterly Review meeting last Wednesday that a new park is needed.
A city account was created to which people could donate funds for a new skateboard park. The council did not decide any specifics on location or other means of funding. Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich asked city staff to bring back the issue at an upcoming meeting so those details could be worked out. She encouraged the skateboarding community to remain part of the process.
A petition is posted on the Internet with 449 signatures as of Tuesday evening in support of a new skateboard park in Malibu. The only skateboard park in Malibu is Papa Jack’s, which is located at the Schultz property in the Civic Center area. But several people said at the meeting that the park is lacking in quality. Also, construction of a mall containing Whole Foods and a few smaller businesses is proposed for that property. The owner of the Schultz property has been open to the idea of placing a smaller version of the skateboard park behind the property. But those attending last week’s meeting said a location away from a commercial center would be a better place.
“Those skate parks near residential and commercial developments cause many problems and create headaches for all involved,” said Planning Commissioner Regan Schaar, who offered to personally pursue corporate funding for a new park. “And I don’t think our city wants to go down that path.”
Schaar said the best place is the Crummer property, located next to Bluffs Park. The city has a proposed deal with that property owner to donate land for public recreational use. Schaar said the property under negotiation for possible municipal purchase at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Heathercliff Road is another possibility. She also suggested an unspecified site in Trancas.
Skateboarder and surfer Skylar Peak, a 24-year-old local who has been in the news lately for his alleged involvement in the summer brawl with paparazzi at Little Dume Beach, also spoke at the meeting. He told the council about the popularity of skateboarding, and agreed with Schaar that the Bluffs Park area is the best location for a future park.
“Bluffs Park is easily accessible from PCH and the diversity from others using the park for baseball and soccer keeps the environment interesting and vibrant,” Peak said.
Several younger skateboarding enthusiasts also spoke to the council. They spoke about quality problems of the current skate park. They also said they feared a smaller version of Papa Jack’s might not actually be built if the Whole Foods mall is built. And without a skate park, the speakers said, skateboarders would be tempted to use unofficial locations.
“If there’s no skate park, what are you going to do? Kids have crazy imaginations,” said 14-year-old Jackson Winner. “I could do tons of crazy business, so you don’t want that to happen. You want to build a skate park.”
City Councilmember John Sibert said he likes skateboarding as a form of recreation for Malibu youth.
“The reason I like the idea of a skateboard park is it’s one of the few things that we have for youth that isn’t organized with a bunch of adults standing over them, telling them what to do all the time,” Sibert said.