San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
VISTA COUNCIL PASSES REGULATION FOR BACKYARD SKATEBOARD RAMPS
Permits will now be required for those higher than 6 feet
Skateboarding is not a crime, a popular adage about the activity states, but it does have its limits in Vista.
The City Council this month unanimously agreed that skateboard ramps higher than 6 feet in singlefamily residential zones will require a minor-use permit.
People with permitted skateboard ramps can operate them from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and special events will be allowed case by case if approved by the Planning Commission.
The action followed a recommendation from the city Planning Commission, which discussed the issue in October and January following complaints from some homeowners.
City Council members heard similar complaints from residents before approving amendments to a city code and policy. Under the amendment, existing ramps greater than 6 feet will be allowed for 12 months before their owners are required to have a minor-use permit.
The Planning Commission will consider landscaping, screening, soundproofing, parking and other issues when reviewing applications.
After hearing concerns from some residents who have neighbors with large skateboard ramps and are eager for enforcement to begin, council members agreed to have the $3,345 application fee waived if people with existing ramps obtain a permit within 90 days rather than waiting a full year to apply.
The permits will allow backyard skateboard ramps in some residential and agricultural zones. Community Development Director John Conley said the new ordinance would prohibit ramps in smaller residential zones known as R1B because they are in more dense neighbors and might create problems for residents.
Speakers in favor of the change included a married couple who said the tranquility at their Oak Drive home is disrupted by noise coming from a neighbor’s 30foot skateboard ramp.
The husband called the ramp “absurdly large” and said it towers over his backyard, and his wife said there is a cheering section where spectators bang their boards in response to some skate tricks.
They also said they had asked their neighbor if they could have three evenings a week without anyone using the ramp, but he declined and said he was running a business teaching skateboard lessons.
Other speakers also said neighbors with large skateboard ramps were disturbing their peace.
Speaking in opposition to the permit requirement, one couple said they had two skateboard ramps in their backyard that had drawn complaints from a few neighbors. The female speaker did not say the size of their ramps but said they were built more than 10 years ago, and they had checked with the city for any legal barriers to their construction at the time and found none.
She also said they had made efforts to be good neighbors by not skating on Sundays and installing screens, landscaping and noise buffers.
The most renowned backyard skateboard ramp in Vista likely is Sloanyard at the home of professional skateboarder Elliot Sloan.
His private skateboard compound was the site of an X-games competition last July. Sloan has posted on Youtube a video tour of his home, which includes a music studio.
Vista City Councilmember Joe Green said through email after the meeting that Sloan has agreed to the permit requirement and is not troubling any surrounding neighbors.
“He is in support of the ordinance and thinks there should be some governance to maintain the presence of ramps in our city as skating is a piece of the fabric of our town,” Green wrote. “There are other ramps that have been used inappropriately without consideration of their surrounding neighbors. We are hopeful this will be a quality of life improvement once the ordinance is effective.”
gary.warth@sduniontribune.com