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.
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