GLENDALE COUNCIL OKS SKATE PARK; DOWNTOWN PARKING LOT CHOSEN FOR TEMPORARY SITE.

Byline: Lee Condon Staff Writer

Local skateboarders won the latest round in their battle for a public skate park as the Glendale City Council unanimously decided to create a portable temporary facility in a downtown parking lot.

Located at the intersection of Orange and Colorado Street, the parking lot is one of several parcels the city owns in the downtown area.

Eventually the city hopes the parking lot will be part of the land used for a proposed retail development dubbed Town Center, but those plans are now in limbo.

City parks officials say it will take about 60 to 90 days to get the portable skate park up and running. Parks officials were also asked to report back in 60 days with a recommendation for a second temporary site.

The council did not pick a site for a permanent facility but asked parks officials to report back in two months with more choices for a site. Parks officials have said it will take 12 to 18 month to plan and design a permanent facility.

Skateboarders once again turned up Tuesday night for the council meeting, lobbying the council to make good on a promise to provide them with a legal place to skate in the city. They complained that local police are constantly telling them to stop skating on city sidewalks, streets and at public parks. It is illegal to do so in the city.

``We just want a place to skate without getting in trouble and without getting harassed,'' said James Davidson, a local teen-ager. ``I've been getting hassled for six years.''

Earlier this year, the skateboarders lost their battle to save plans to build a skate park at Montrose Park. That plan was junked, despite six months of planning and design work, because the Montecito Park Homeowners Association opposed it.

Residents had complained that Montrose Park was too small for a skate facility and would cause parking and traffic problems.

Some homeowners appeared Tuesday night to oppose the proposed sites located near their homes. Bill Graff, vice president of the Verdugo Woodlands West Homeowners Association, opposed a suggestion that a skate park be located in Verdugo Park. Graff said members of the group were taken by surprise by the idea.

``All of a sudden we find out there is a possibility of it going into a park which is already too crowded,'' Graff said.