Skate park foes take it to voters.

Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard

LOWELL - An 18-month effort to build a skate park may soon face a barrier too steep for even the most adroit skateboarder.

Opponents of the proposed concrete bowl in the city's Paul Fisher Park are gathering signatures to force a voter referendum on the question.

And their quest goes well beyond the usual NIMBY - Not In My Backyard - prohibition.

For chief petitioner Rudy Rennert and his wife, Judith, who retired to Lowell from Cape Cod two years ago, it's more like NIMC - Nowhere In My City.

Their petition calls for a city ordinance barring skate parks "on all city-owned lands." Further, it would prohibit the use of "city funds, personnel or other city resources" in the "planning, construction or maintenance of skate parks."

In an interview at his home overlooking Paul Fisher Park, Rennert said he and other opponents fear problems with noise, graffiti and liability if Lowell builds a skate park.

But the chairman of the city's skate park committee said Lowell might just as well hang out a "No Kids Wanted" sign if the measure passes. Such a message would clash with the city's adopted goal of attracting more families with children to ensure the survival of local schools, said Ken Hern, who also retired to Lowell.

A parks survey conducted last year showed 58 percent of Lowell High School students rated a skate park "important" or "very important" as a recreational amenity, the former Eugene firefighter said.

"There's just not a lot of things for kids to do out here," Hern said, adding that the breadth of Rennert's petition goes beyond any skate park opposition he's seen.

"I've done a lot of research in the last 18 months," Hern said. "More than 100 Oregon cities have built or are building skate parks, and there are always naysayers. But I've never heard of anything this sweeping."

Judith Rennert has appealed the Lowell Planning Commission's Aug. 9 approval of the park as a site for the proposed skate bowl, and the City Council has set a public hearing on the matter for Oct. 16.

Rudy Rennert said he decided to proceed with referring the issue directly to voters, however, because city officials didn't seem receptive to opponents' concerns when the planning commission considered the matter.

"We feel like they just want to push through what they want," he said.

Rudy Rennert said this week that the couple have already collected about 85 signatures, but plan to collect 100. If at least 68 are verified by county officials as valid signatures of Lowell registered voters, the matter would be set for election.

The city of 937 has about 400 registered voters.

Rennert said he began attending city meetings as a way to get involved in his new community. After doing so, he concluded that "a lot of time, money and energy are being spent on things that are the last thing we need."

He said the proposed 800-square-foot skate bowl would take up too much of the limited open space in Lowell's two parks - particularly since it would likely be used by only a small percentage of city residents.

"There's only 25 students in each graduating class here," he said of Lowell High School.

Meanwhile, the city can't even take care of basic services, Rennert said - pointing to an unpaved road below his house as an example.

He said skate parks he visited in other cities have become graffiti magnets. As proof, he displays photos of local examples on a large poster board.

"Do you want this in Lowell?" he wrote alongside pictures of a Cottage Grove skate bowl covered in spray-painted "tagging" and obscenities.

Hern, however, said such problems are manageable and well worth the benefits to youth who would enjoy the social and recreational benefits of a skate park.

He retired to Lowell three years ago, after a career with the Eugene Fire Department. He was soon dismayed by the condition of the cash-strapped former timber town's parks.

"There are only two, and the grass wasn't even getting mowed," Hern said.

He want to a city parks committee meeting and volunteered to begin mowing. Soon he was involved in other aspects of park improvement, including the installation of new playground equipment for young children and construction of a public restroom. It was while working on the concrete slab for the latter project that he learned how many local teens wanted a place to skateboard.

"Kids would walk by from the high school to the grocery store on their lunch hour and ask, 'What are you building?' and I'd say, 'What do you want built?' Time and time again, the answer would be a skate park."

Hern said he went back to the parks committee with a proposal to build one with volunteer labor. At first, City Administrator Chuck Spies responded negatively, citing liability concerns.

"I said, 'Do me a favor and check on that,' " Hern said.

After consulting with City Council Insurance Services, Spies reported that the city would face no increased premium costs if it built a skate park, and that there had never been a successful claim against an Oregon city due to a skate park injury.

Hern said he wasn't surprised. He knew that Oregon law grants immunity to property owners who make land available for public recreation without charging admission.

Hern predicts that a majority of city residents will support a skateboard bowl. In the 2006 parks survey, Hern said, 41 percent of the general public ranked a skate park as "important" or "very important," while just 19 percent called such a bowl "unimportant" or "very unimportant." Another 40 percent were undecided.

If the matter goes to a vote, he said, advocates will outline their plans for building the park with a fund-raising campaign and volunteer labor, as well as for covering maintenance costs by selling signboards - akin to those in baseball outfields - to go up inside a "sound wall" planned to buffer the sounds of skateboarders for nearby residents.

He expressed frustration that the vote will likely delay the skate park planning process. Proponents have privately raised the money to bring a Seattle skate park designer to Lowell to get an estimate on design costs. Now, that step is on hold.

Rennert emphasized that his petition doesn't rule out a skate park for Lowell. "If you want to put a skate park in a private area, knock yourself out!" he said.

But "that's never going to happen," Hern said, noting that a private skate park would have to charge admission to cover costs - thus losing immunity from liability. "Parks are a municipal-type responsibility," he said.