THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407150260
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
The psychedelic bumper stickers on their cars seem to spell trouble: ``Bad Religion,'' ``Social Distortion'' and ``Minor Threat.''
But if you listen to the skateboarders who jump, scrape and roll the recently installed ramps at Chesapeake City Park, it's the rush of wheels on sheet metal that have kept them from sliding into a life of delinquency.
So when City Attorney Ronald S. Hallman recommended toughening a law to crack down on the few skaters who still roam the civic center complex, the teen skaters had only one question: Why do you keep picking on us?
On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to prohibit skating and skateboarding at the civic center complex and within 50 feet of any city building.
Police patrols and posted signs will be used to enforce the law, which went into effect immediately.
``This is strictly related to damage on sidewalks from the skateboard,'' said Deputy City Manager Clarence V. Cuffee. The damage, he said, includes chips at the base and walls of city buildings and blackening of sidewalks caused by a wax that skaters use on their wheels.
Skaters will receive a warning before getting a fine or having to appear in court, Cuffee said. If they ignore the warning, it could mean up to a year in jail or up to $2,500 in fines - or both.
``We're not anti-skateboarders,'' said Cuffee, who estimated that 15 to 20 teens skateboard at the civic center on any given weekday. ``It's not an everyday thing, but it's enough to have a detrimental effect on these buildings.''
But many of the two dozen skaters skating at the park ramps thought the city was wasting its time and picking on the wrong target.
``They look at us as vandals, little troublemakers,'' said one Chesapeake skater who goes by the name ``E.''
``They don't understand, probably 'cause they never tried it.''
``A phase, a fad,'' other skaters echoed, aping the paternalistic tone of parents and adults who, they said, dismiss them as lost kids up to no good.
Not only is skateboarding a sport like any other, they said, it's even more harmless than some of the games parents encourage their kids to play.
``Now football, there's a violent sport,'' E said, flipping back a mop of blond curls.
``Skateboarding is just you against yourself, competing with yourself, trying to get better.''
If the reddish-brown nicks and scabs along E's legs are any indication, he may be his toughest competitor.
As he sped up to a cement block, flipped his board and landed on the other side, E's eyes stay glued to the board. He attempted the same trick six more times, trying to perfect it.
The problem, skaters said, is that eventually he will - along with the other tricks they practice at the park. The ramps, they said, only offer so much.
``It's pretty cool sometimes,'' E said, ``but it can get old. There's only so much you can do here.''
It would be practically impossible to re-create the curbs, handrails, steps, handicapped access ramps and other obstacles that abound at the civic center, said Kevin Jordan, 18. Jordan, who used to skate at city hall, now helps run the park's ramp facility.
Though he doesn't skate the ``Taj Mahal'' anymore, Jordan said it's not hard to understand why kids still do.
``Ramp skating just doesn't appeal to some of them,'' Jordan said. ``The architectural designs are fun to skate.''
And for the younger kids, Jordan said, City Hall is not just a better option - it's the only one.
``Say you live way out in Chesapeake and you can't get your parents to drive you over here. What are you going to do all day? Sit and watch TV?''
Jordan agreed with the skaters that if the city is truly worried about its youth, it should look somewhere else.
``Think of all those kids out there getting themselves into trouble with drugs and stuff like that,'' said E.
Brandon Harris, 18, was one of the skaters who petitioned city council for five years to build the ramps.
``You can throw a baseball in the street,'' Harris said. ``Why can't you skate?'
Although Jordan said he would not defy the new laws, he said he will keep skating wherever he is allowed as long as he can.
``I figure until arthritis sets in,'' Jordan said. ``Which will probably be soon, the way I keep landing on my joints.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Isaac Sands gets air on the largest ramp at Chesapeake City Park.
by CNB