Talks on skate park roll on

Christine Carrillo

No design has been made.

No plans approved.

But talk of a possible skate park at Davis Elementary School was

all the city needed to spark debate, which was exactly what the City

Council wanted.

Using public forums to quell concerns among opponents of the

proposed park, the City Council asked parks and recreation

commissioners to get responses from residents.

And they did.

During a meeting Wednesday night that about 35 people attended,

those for and against the idea got the chance to air their

differences.

“I think it was good because it definitely allowed us to hear what

their concerns were,” said Jim Gray, the leader of the skateboard

coalition. “It’s always easier to put on a presentation when you’re

looking at real data.”

Since the proposal is in such a preliminary stage, attendees found

it difficult to take a stance either way.

“In my mind, as a school board folk, there’s just nothing to

really react to yet,” school trustee Tom Egan said. “It might be a

good concept, but of course, the devil is in the details, and I

didn’t hear enough last night.”

The primary goal of the meeting, however, was to hear community

concerns that could help the city move forward with skate board park

plans.

“The direction, at this point in time, is to explore the

feasibility at this time,” said Dave Alkema, Costa Mesa parks project

manager. “Basically, we’re just kind of reaching out to the community

at this point. If we do move along with the process, there will be an

in-depth investigation -- this is extremely preliminary.”

While no decision was made and the prospect of a skate board park

at Davis remains far away, the wealth of community input from both

sides proved profitable, Egan said.

“I was struck by an intensity of feelings on both sides,” Egan

said. “The emotions came through, and in that case, it was a

successful town hall meeting.”

Alkema will submit a report to the City Council on concerns raised

at the meeting for their review. The council will then determine

where to go from there.

* CHRISTINE CARRILLO covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].