Mandatory helmets or pay to skate

By Allison Brophy Champion

Published: October 2, 2008

Dude, the verdict is in, and you’re going to have to wear headgear if you want to skate in Culpeper.

Soon, it’s going to be the law. The Parks and Recreation Commission is not budging on it.

Beyond that, the seven-member commission Tuesday recommended two options to Town Council for the future of the Yowell Meadow Skatepark.

They are:
* Make the existing rules laws, namely the one mandating helmets, and therefore subject to fines for noncompliance; eliminate three minor rules prohibiting skating on the pedestrian path, personal music devices and food in the skatepark and and develop a “skate board” of local skaters.
* Or turn the skatepark over to a nonprofit management company to run; a fee for entry under this scenario is likely.

The commission decided on these two options after studying the issue at two consecutive meetings — an exercise Town Council requested to address ongoing concerns of safety.

Though a few members wavered on the helmet requirement — supporting an option instead that skaters and their parents could sign a waiver — the commission, in the end, stood firm on making headgear mandatory.

Most of the eight local skaters who attended Tuesday night’s meeting in Town Hall, however, wondered how the town would enforce helmet wearing in the skatepark when there’s been widespread disregard of the rule for the past few years.

Skaters complain that helmets are bulky and uncomfortable and not really part of the culture.

The town, on the other hand, fears getting sued if, for example, a skater not wearing a helmet landed on his/her head and became a paraplegic.

“It says ‘skate at your own risk,’” said skater Blake Scott, reading from a set of 17 rules for the skatepark handed to him by Parks and Rec. Commission member Jack Rhoades.

“So how could you get sued if that’s one of the rules?”

Parks and Rec. Chairwoman Kathi Walker pointed out that another rule mandates “an approved helmet with chinstrap,” saying the regulation was in place for their own wellbeing.

Marti Williamson, parks and rec. commission member, compared the rule to wearing a seatbelt when driving: “People drive at their own risk, but it is a law to wear seatbelts.”

She said skaters’ refusal to wear helmets has been “a permanent source of disappointment” to the commission.

Skater Tim Smith suggested that the commission leave the issue up to parents, giving them an option to sign a waiver skirting the helmet rule.

“Another option is privatize the management,” said Town Engineer Chuck Stephenson, director of planning, to which commission member Kathleen Snyder replied, “I think that would make us look wimpy.”

Stephenson said allowing a private company to run the skatepark could save the town money in maintenance, like the $32,000 the town is getting ready to spend to fix ramps in the six-year-old park.

Town Councilman Bobby Ryan, one of two commission members who voted against the privatizing proposal, urged skaters in attendance to be an example at the park by following the rules: wearing their helmets and not using bad language.

“We need your help,” he said.

Scott replied, “We can help too, because it’s part of us,” at which point Williamson turned to the seated skaters and said, “We are making it against the law to not wear your helmet; you will get a fine.”

Walker then apologized to the skaters for the lack of bleachers for spectators at the skatepark; Stephenson said those were in the process of being reinstalled in a different location.

The commission also showed flexibility in doing away with rule nine, prohibiting skating outside of the skatepark, including the paved pedestrian path, as the same rule does not apply to bikes and rollerblades.

“Skateboarding is an exercise,” said Scott. “We don’t run people over.”

He added that he felt skaters were being “picked on.” Nobody fusses at the many football or other sports teams that practice in Yowell Meadow Park without protective equipment.

Stephanie Hitt, the mom of a skater, agreed, saying that anyone on wheels in the park should be required to wear a helmet.

Stephenson said a person has much a greater chance of getting hurt if he/she falls from a skate ramp versus falling three-feet to the ground from a bike.

“We ought to take a stance,” he said. “My opinion is they should wear helmets.”

And in the end, the commission killed a motion by a 4-3 vote that would have given skaters an option to sign a waiver to the helmet rule.

Snyder, Tom Letz and Rhoades voted for that option.

“I prefer that we be firm on that one thing and as loose as we can on everything else,” Williamson said.

As for “Plan B” — handing the skatepark over to a private firm to manage — Letz supported it, saying, “The police are already overwhelmed.”

Once the skatepark rules become laws, it will be up to a sworn officer to enforce them.

Regarding charging a fee to use the skatepark, Stephenson expected that would be the case if management were assumed by a private company.

“That is so unfair,” said Mrs. Hitt. “All the public parks are free except to the skaters.”

Both options go before the Town Council Planning Committee later this month and then to full council for a vote at its regular meeting in November.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or .