Skate park hits skids again

Andrew Edwards

Laguna skateboarders have waited years for their hometown to build a

skate park, but exactly where young shredders will be able to

practice and show off their moves on ramps and half-pipes remains

uncertain.

On Tuesday night, the City Council had a seemingly straightforward

decision to make -- whether the body would amend the city’s contract

with South Coast YMCA to build the skate park at Big Bend instead of

the Bark Park.

By the end of the meeting, it was possible the park could be built

at either location.

“I’m going to guess 50-50 that we’re going to be back at the Bark

Park,” Councilwoman Toni Iseman said.

In March 2003, council members decided to switch the location of

the proposed park from the dog park to Big Bend to avoid any hectic

moments that could be created by a mix of dogs and skateboarders. As

far back as September 2000, the ACT V parking lot was the favored

site for a skate park but this idea was abandoned in October 2001 to

save parking spaces.

But the plan for Big Bend hit a snag after city leaders were

alarmed by a traffic study from LSA Associates, the same firm that

conducted the parking study for the Montage Resort. The study

reported safe access to and from the park could only be achieved if

drivers made right turns in and out of the parking lot.

A right-turn-only rule would mean visitors from Laguna would have

to make a U-turn on Laguna Canyon Road, most likely at El Toro Road,

to drive back into the city. Visitors traveling south through the

canyon would have to drive Downtown and turn around to get into the

park.

“It’s just impossible,” said City Manager Ken Frank. “It will not

work. It’s not satisfactory.”

Despite the potential problems with the Big Bend site, the council

briefly approved the amended agreement by a 3 to 2 vote, until

Councilman Wayne Baglin, who initially supported the move, asked for

a new vote.

Baglin, after consulting City Atty. Philip Kohn, was able to make

the request for a reconsideration since he had first cast a “yea”

vote. Baglin then joined council members Iseman and Steve Dicterow in

defeating the motion.

He called for the reconsideration, he said, because after his

first vote he decided the motion would limit the YMCA to planning for

a site that may prove unsafe.

“I realized the motion was too restrictive,” he said.

The three then voted to pass a new motion crafted by Iseman to

release $15,000 to the YMCA to fund park planning and to direct city

employees to contact Caltrans for an opinion on the safety issues

presented by both locations. Mayor Cheryl Kinsman and Councilwoman

Elizabeth Pearson voted against the idea.

“I will never support the Bark Park,” Kinsman said.

After the meeting, Kinsman said she believed dog-park patrons

would not be pleased if they learned they would be joined by

skateboarders.

But the city and the YMCA already have a signed contract dated

Dec. 5 2002 containing an agreement to build a skate park at the Bark

Park. If building the park at Big Bend proves unfeasible, the YMCA

could go ahead and develop plans for the Bark Park, something the

organization is willing to do.

“If the city is not now going to allow a project to be built at

Big Bend, then we have a contract for the Bark Park and we will

pursue a contract there,” South Coast YMCA chairman Larry Nokes said.

Nokes said the YMCA is willing to accommodate the city in building

at Big Bend, but remains determined to install a skate park in Laguna

Beach.

“We’ve got 100s of hours in this thing and we do not plan to

fail,” he said.