TEMPORARY SKATE PARK CONSIDERED; PREFAB RAMPS MAY BE USED.

Byline: Lee Condon Staff Writer

Attempting to make good on a promise, Glendale officials are considering buying prefabricated ramps to set up as a temporary skate park until a permanent site can be found.

``What we're looking at is an interim facility, something we can use for 12 to 24 months,'' Glendale Parks Director Nello Iacono said.

Local skateboarders were angered in June when the council reneged on plans to build a skate facility in Montrose Park because neighbors opposed it. The newly elected council dumped the skate park even though it already had been approved by a previous council and $65,000 had been spent on planning and design.

On Oct. 26, parks and recreation department officials will present the council with options for a skate park. Iacono said no new sites have been picked, but he will likely recommend that the city buy prefabricated skate ramps that could be used for a temporary site. That would give the city time to plan for a permanent site, which would feature concrete skating ramps built into the landscape.

Iacono said finding a site for a temporary skate park is a priority for the council and parks staff.

``The City Council is very interested in finding a place,'' Iacono said, adding that the parks department is looking at parks, schools and city-owned properties as potential sites. ``They made a promise to the young people of this community.''

Scott Hounsell, a 16-year-old skateboarder who lobbied for the Montrose Park site at a council meeting in June, said he and his friends will be at the Oct. 26 meeting to make sure the local politicians stick to their word.

``I want the City Council to know we're not going to let this go,'' Hounsell said, adding that he plans to round up as many skateboarders as possible for the meeting. ``I want our voices to be heard.''

Hounsell likes the idea of a temporary skate facility.

``I think it's a great idea. Young people in this city need a place to skate,'' Hounsell said.

Skateboarding is illegal in city parks and on streets and sidewalks. Local police are not shy about enforcing the rules, and Hounsell himself has received seven citations from police for illegal skateboarding.

Glendale police have worked with city officials to help plan the skate park because they spend so much time telling young people not to skate on public property.

Hounsell warned that city officials will probably face citizen opposition wherever they try to put the skate park. The Montrose Park facility was strongly opposed by the Montecito Park Homeowners Association, whose members argued the park was too small to handle the addition of a heavily used skate park.

``Wherever you put the skate park you are going to have neighborhood opposition,'' Hounsell said. ``They just think they are more important than teens and the kids in the neighborhood. Kids as a whole are looked down on.''

Councilman Gus Gomez said the Montrose Park site was dumped because of concerns that the skate park would cause too much traffic and noise, and leave no room for people to park in the neighborhood.

``I have no problem with a skateboard park as long as we can find an appropriate location,'' Gomez said.