Skate park stays on TeWinkle plan

Deirdre Newman

Four-legged creatures lost out to four-wheeled contraptions in a

territorial battle for a piece of TeWinkle Park.

On Wednesday, the Parks and Recreation Commission opted to keep

the site east of Junipero Drive along Arlington Drive as an

alternative skate park instead of designating it as an extension of

the Bark Park in the TeWinkle Park Master Plan. This part of the plan

still needs to get the approval of the Planning Commission and City

Council.

Bark park supporters and skate park fans rallied their troops for

the meeting Wednesday. Outside, skateboard companies gave away

T-shirts, hats and videos to get young skateboarders to come to the

meeting.

The commission voted 4 to 0 to keep the site as an alternative for

a skate park.

Skate park supporters argued adamantly for keeping the TeWinkle

site as an alternative site.

“Costa Mesa easily has as many skateboarders per capita as any

other city,” David Westbrook said. “Not having [a skate park] puts

[the city] at a disadvantage to potential homeowners.”

This is the second time Costa Mesa Bark Park fans have failed to

get more space in a city park. In November 2002, the City Council

voted to delete a second bark park from the Fairview Park Master

Plan.

Bark park supporters expressed disappointment at their latest

defeat.

“If that is the primary site for the skate park, that’s asking for

trouble with intermingling skateboarders and dogs in the parking

lot,” Patricia Allen said. “The parking lot is not adequate now.”

The battle for this site has been going on since the Costa Mesa

Bark Park Foundation expressed interest in the site in June. The area

was earmarked as an alternative skate park site when the commission

first considered the master plan in November 2002. One bark park

already exists at Arlington Drive and Newport Boulevard.

On June 9, the Planning Commission approved parts of the TeWinkle

Park Master Plan, a road map for the future of the city’s most

heavily used park. But the commission continued a discussion on the

skateboard park for a variety of reasons, including giving fans of

the bark park a chance to weigh in on the discussion.

The master plan originally proposed a 20,000-square-foot

skateboard park at Davis Elementary School. But installing it there

raised red flags among some commissioners, staff at Davis and

Newport-Mesa Unified school board members, leading city staff to

consider the other site.

People who have been trying to get a skate park for years tried to

bring out the younger generation of skateboarders to reinforce their

case.

“I think it would be cool to have a park,” Eric Michaelson, 12,

said. “I usually skate at Estancia High School, but I get kicked out

because there’s nowhere to go.”

Companies such as Volcom and ABC Board Supply had offered

giveaways to entice the younger skateboarders to come to the meeting,

but the kids who did show up did not do so because of the giveaway,

said Jim Gray, president of ABC Board Supply.

“Hopefully, we made their day, and they’ll come next time,” Gray

said.

The master plan designs the primary use of the site as open space.

Commissioner Byron de Arakal made a motion to change the priority to

make the primary use a skate park, but that motion was not seconded,

and it died.

He then made a substitute motion to keep the primary use as open

space and the alternative use as a skate park. Approval for this use

was unanimous, with Commissioner Wendy Leece absent.

“This city needs to get off the dime,” de Arakal said. “There has

been at least a half-generation of kids that has not had the

opportunity to skate in this city.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.