An ordinance amending Section 74-7 of Warsaw’s municipal code on “skateboards in the downtown business district” will go before the Common Council at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The amendment establishes rules, enforcement and penalties related to the use of skateboards in the downtown business district.
A person who violates any provision of the ordinance will be fined $250 for the first offense, $500 for the second offense and “the fine for a third or subsequent offense will be not less than $750 nor more than $2,500,” according to a copy of the proposed ordinance.
The downtown business district, according to the ordinance, is the area bounded by Detroit, Lake and Fort Wayne streets and Winona Avenue.
The ordinance also provides for the definitions of sidewalk, skateboard and streets.
All ordinances must be approved by the Council twice. Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said the ordinance will have its first reading Tuesday, but doubted the Council would want to approve it on second reading that night. He said the Council will probably want to talk about it and let the public respond.
Asked why the ordinance is being brought up, Thallemer said there are areas downtown that have been damaged, specifically the City Hall parking lot, although there are other areas where merchants have reported damage.
He said the city has to have an ordinance in place to prohibit the skateboarding in an area and the ordinance provides for a means of enforcement in the form of fines.
On March 20, 2017, at a Common Council meeting, Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins requested a review of the city’s skateboarding ordinance for the downtown area. She said skateboarding had “gotten out of control” and “I know our ordinance addresses streets and sidewalks, but the private parking lot, the city hall parking lot – and I had skateboarders on my roof Saturday night.”
At that meeting, a now-retired Warsaw police officer said some of the buildings where reports had been made of people on rooftops included the former Saemann building, CenturyLink, Times-Union and Lake City Bank.
According to Warsaw’s current municipal code, Section 74-7, “It shall be unlawful for any person to ride or operate a skateboard on any street or sidewalk within the downtown business district of the city.”
Section 58:46 states, “No persons shall ride or operate a bicycle, skateboard, rollerblades or roller skates on any sidewalk or pedestrian walkway at the following Center Lake Parks: Municipal Park, Nye Park, Bixler Park, Warsaw Biblical Gardens and Central Park. Skate board use will be allowed only at the Mantis Skate Park, and BMX bike riding will be allowed only at the Hire BMX Park.”
The city does have Mantis Skate Park – a supervised, family-friendly skate facility for all ages – where skateboards, scooters and inline skates are welcome, according to the city’s website. Helmets are required at all times, and an annual waiver and emergency contact form must be on file to skate.
While the skate park is at 400 Little League Drive currently, the city is hoping to move it to Richardson-Dubois Park along East Market Street if enough grant funding can be secured.
“The whole idea is to create a great spot that allows them to do great things in one place,” Thallemer said.
Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department Superintendent Larry Plummer said a grant was submitted to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to move Mantis Skate Park to Richardson-Dubois Park. The grant application will be reviewed and the city will know “in August or September if we were picked for a grant,” he said.
If the city is awarded the grant, the process to move the skate park will continue forward. If the IDNR does not award Warsaw the grant, Mantis Skate Park will remain at Boggs Industrial Park.
The grant is for $250,000 and requires a local match. Plummer said they’ve secured $152,000 for the local match and the rest of the cost to move Mantis Park has been budgeted.
