OJAI : Council to Consider Skateboard Park

The Ojai Parks and Recreation Commission will ask the City Council on Tuesday to consider building a skateboarding facility.

Carol Belser, Ojai director of recreation, said the commission has received favorable community response to the idea of constructing a skateboard park in Ojai.

She said the commission conducted two student surveys this past spring--one at Matilija Junior High School and one at Nordhoff High School. At Matilija, 46% of those surveyed said they would regularly use a skateboard facility; at Nordhoff, 58% said they would use it, Belser said.

Also, Belser said, a questionnaire sent to local merchants and adult residents yielded 174 favorable responses and only two unfavorable comments.

Dan Singer, assistant to the city manager, said the commission was also spurred to consider building a skateboard park because merchants from Ojai’s Arcade--an outdoor shopping strip with dozens of stores--have expressed displeasure with youths skateboarding near their stores.

Singer said merchants are worried that skateboarders who ride on curbs, benches, plant boxes and sidewalks near their stores are disrupting business and unintentionally destroying some property.

Belser said if council members back the idea, the commission will form a task force. The task force would first investigate to determine whether enough support exists in the community. Funds for a skateboard bowl and/or ramps would have to be raised from donations, she said.