City of Powell River Council will present a draft bylaw for skateboards and longboards, in-line skates and scooter use at a special community event later this month.
At the committee of the whole meeting Thursday, June 5, Mayor Dave Formosa said council representatives and city staff had met with the RCMP and reviewed why a bylaw might be required, and what other cities are doing with regard to the youth.
“We all felt good that the kids were out exercising rather than being at their computers,” he said. “For the few that wreck it for the rest, however, how do we get them on side?”
The draft bylaw arose from a committee of the whole meeting on April 17, where city council and Brooks Secondary School Youth Shadow Council discussed concerns about longboarders on city streets. Council directed staff to prepare a bylaw to address unsafe use and organize an event to create awareness between longboarders, residents and police.
Formosa said the event will feature competitions, some prizes, plus discussion about the potential bylaw, because not all of the boarders are behaving. He said the city wants the user group to read the bylaw and provide feedback.
“We like to see the young people exercising but they also need to respect sidewalks and people driving motor vehicles,” he said. “We are taking a softer approach. I wanted to bring this up so the public can understand how we are working with the children and students.”
Bylaws from several other cities were appropriated and Marie Claxton, city clerk, took the best features for Powell River’s draft.
“We may not have to do it, but if we do, they are going to understand why,” Formosa said.
Penalties under the proposed bylaw would involve actions such as detaining and impounding boards, in-line skates or scooters. Impoundment would be 24 hours for a first offence, seven days for a second and 30 days for each succeeding infraction. An impounded board could be redeemed for $25 if the bylaw is adopted as written.
The public awareness event will be from 1 to 3 pm on Friday, June 27, in the back parking lot at city hall. There will be hot dogs, pop and a draw for a longboard and helmet.
“Hopefully it will be a good event and we’ll get input from neighbours that have the issue of skateboarding in their neighbourhood,” said Councillor Maggie Hathaway. “Hopefully we’ll hear from parents and the kids themselves.”
After the draft bylaw has been introduced at the public event, it will come back to the committee on July 3 for further discussion.
