RESTRICTIONS CHAFE SKATEBOARDERS; MERCHANTS BACK LAWS AGAINST ACTIVITY.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

A group of youths on skateboards swarmed through a shopping plaza the first week of summer, zipping off concrete stairs, negotiating hairpin turns, then migrating to the wide open plains of the parking lot.

It was all great fun - for them - until a police officer pulled up, scolding them and in blunt terms reminding them of what they already know: Skateboarding is prohibited in that area.

``You've got to respect the people and the property around you,'' Officer William Lappin told the kids after threatening to confiscate their skateboards if they didn't comply.

With school out for the summer, this scene will be played countless times in Simi Valley, Agoura Hills, Thousand Oaks and other communities. At stake is the rights of property owners - many of whom are tired of skateboarders using their walkways and parking areas - vs. the recreational rights of teens.

``All we're doing is having fun in the summer. Where else are we going to go?'' asked a Simi Valley teen who, with his friends, was stopped by Lappin at Mountain Gate Shopping Plaza.

Skateboarders may be nice people trying to have fun but they cause problems, said John Hunter, service coordinator for AT&T Wireless Services at Mountain Gate Plaza.

``They get in the way, they knock down our sign,'' he said. ``The problem is not the noise, it's that patrons who are coming in have to dodge out of the way.''

The penalty for skateboarding in prohibited areas can be steep. Police say they usually warn the youths and cite them only after several warnings.

Simi Valley City Attorney John Torrance said the municipal code provides for fines up to $1,000 for skateboarders. The amount of the fine depends on whether it's an infraction or misdemeanor, and whether it's a first offense or repeat.

The state vehicle code also allows for fines up to $1,000 and possible jail time for a misdemeanor. The maximum fine for infractions of the state law is $250, Torrance said.

Police say it's nearly impossible to measure the magnitude of the skateboarding problems because of it's lumped in with other juvenile complaints.

For example, a complaint involving skateboarders might fall under various categories, such as ``disturbing juveniles,'' ``disturbing subjects,'' or ``malicious mischief,'' said Theresa Adams, Simi Valley senior police records technician assigned to crime analysis.

In Agoura Hills and Westlake Village, it is common to receive a couple of skateboarder complaints a night from merchants, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Thomas Spiegle.

``The main problem is skateboarders in shopping centers and around storefront areas. They sometimes scare customers or damage property when they jump objects,'' he said.

Spiegle said he sometimes cites the skateboarders and confiscates their boards.

``Most of these kids are decent kids; sometimes I feel bad citing them. But, unfortunately, they do cause a nuisance,'' he said.

The skateboarders' frustration is easy to understand - there is no place else to go. Shopping plazas, the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, and even the school parking lots and playgrounds are all off-limits.

But that may change.

Last month, SBT Productions, a company owned by Simi Valley residents Todd Huber and Scott Radinsky, who pitches for the Los Angeles Dodgers, announced plans to build an indoor skateboard park called California Skate Lab and Museum in a warehouse at 4226 Valley Fair.

Skate Street, a 29,000-square-foot park in Ventura County, opened this year and is attracting 150 to 300 skaters a day.

The Conejo Recreation and Park District has included a skateboard facility in its 1998-1999 master plan. (The Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District has no plan to create a skateboard facility.)

On July 15, the state's Senate Judiciary Committee will consider a bill that would ease the liability of municipalities concerned that building skateboard parks will lead to lawsuits.

Tom Sorensen, administrator for the Conejo park district, said his agency is optimistic that legislators will approve the bill that would classify skateboarding as a hazardous recreational activity. Such a classification would group skateboarding with other activities - such as horseback riding, tree climbing and hang gliding - that require the participant to assume responsibility for the inherent dangers. Skateboarding now has no classification.

Yvonne Hunter, a legislative representative for the League of California Cities, said the bill would not save cities from gross negligence. But it would protect them from ``frivolous lawsuits'' and lower their insurance costs.

But the skateboarding controversy isn't only a matter of liability. Image plays a large role, and skaters and professionals in the industry agree than most people hold an unflattering view of skateboarders.

``Skaters aren't criminals. They're not gangbangers. They're not low-life scum. They're great athletes, obviously very dedicated to their sport,'' said Jim Fitzpatrick, executive director of the International Association of Skateboard Companies in Santa Barbara.

Scott Douglas, director of marketing for Skate Street, agreed.

``Our park has disproved the stereotype. The average kid who skateboards is a good kid,'' he said.

And some of them are moving into sports careers that earn them as much as $100,000 annually, said Fitzpatrick, noting that ESPN now broadcasts The X Games, where athletes compete in ``extreme'' sports like skateboarding.

Regardless of what Douglas calls the ``tremendous growth of the industry,'' teens say that respect for skateboarders is hard to come by.

``We don't even have to be riding them, if the cops see the boards, they'll follow us till we use them,'' complained one teen.

Parents sometimes complain on behalf of their children who skateboard.

Taryn Power Greendeer, of Agoura Hills, was incensed when on the first day of summer her son Tony Sales, 14, and a friend were slapped with fines that could cost $100. The teens were skateboarding in a prohibited area - a shopping plaza. A court date where their fines will be determined has not yet been scheduled.

``The police treated them like criminals. That was uncalled for. It's better that they do this than drugs or driving drunk,'' she said. ``There's no place for them to go.''