Skateboard Park Plan Moves Ahead
Weighing safety against pure kick-flipping joy, the City Council voted Wednesday night to proceed--albeit cautiously--with a plan to build a skateboard park.
The vote was 3-2 in favor of preparing a bid request to build a 10,000-square-foot park at the corner of Las Virgenes and Lost Hills roads. The council members who voted against the plan said the area had too much traffic to be safe.
“These are kids that enjoy risk to begin with,” countered Mayor Pro Tem Robert Sibilia. “I’d rather they do this than be sitting in front of a TV set eating Chee-tos.”
Council member Dennis Washburn, who also favors the plan, hinted even a councilman might try the park himself.
“There are some of us, frankly, who might like to use that skateboard site,” Washburn said.
The city plans to contact homeowner groups within a one-mile radius of the proposed park and hold a public hearing before making a final decision. City Manager Charles Cate warned that some opposition is inevitable.
“I don’t care who you contact,” Cate said just before the vote. “They’re going to say no.”
![Los Angeles, CA - May 19: Carlos Vargas, left, and Paulina Rubio, members of the harm reduction team from Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care Systems [HOPICS], a leading homeless services and housing agency, look for drug addicts to help and pass out supplies at a homeless RV encampment along 77th St. in South Los Angeles Friday, May 19, 2023. The team hands out syringes, fentanyl test strips, overdose reversal nose spray and medication to prevent overdoses, infection and disease transmission, including the HIV virus. Fenanyl is particularly insidious because it can be found in all other drugs, especially meth and heroin. The handouts are also meant to reduce infection through broken pipes, which can cut users mouths and open them to infection. . (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bc99ba0/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3900x2608+0+34/resize/1024x685!/format/webp/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe9%2F77%2F4b8bd35d4881a3edec6b945b143b%2F1298639-me-soaring-fentanyl-deaths-24-1-ajs.jpg)
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