Comments on: Plans for Woodside skateboard spot to roll forward

By: Springvale Roader

Springvale Roader — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:04:59 +0000

A skate park is a great idea. It would also be self-policing, in that if some of the kids started causing trouble for the neighborhood, a word from MoCo officials that any more shenanigans and the skate park would be closed would probably cause the non-trouble makers to threaten the offenders with all sorts of unpleasant punishments.

By: paul_silver_spring

paul_silver_spring — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:42:09 +0000

Ya know… of the many many times I’ve walked through swarms of skaters outside the metro on my way home from work… not sure I’ve ever caught one drinking. The fact that currently the park is used for drinking has little to nothing to do with what a bunch of skaters would do there… my guess is.. they’d mostly just skate there – call me crazy. In fact, the probability is higher that the people who go there to drink CURRENTLY would pick another place due to the obvious increase in lighting and foot traffic that the skate park would bring. There is absolutely no logic in saying “Group A currently uses the park for Activity B”, therefore building a facility for “Group C to do Activity D” will cause “Group C to use the facility for Activity B”…. it just doesn’t stand up to reason.

By: Rob Smith

Rob Smith — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:11:22 +0000

Please create an RSS feed for this blog, no way to subscribe it seems.

By: Jennifer Deseo

Jennifer Deseo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:24:32 +0000

Thanks for your feedback, Casey. I’ve reworded the first paragraph to better reflect how the parks department will proceed with this project.

And I’ve added an attribution to that lede graf, Kathy.

Play nice, TJ.

By: Kathy J

Kathy J — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:12:37 +0000

This story is missing something vital like a “according to a press release issue today by MNPPC” or “a staffer announced today that..” — Where is the source of the opening sentence?

By: Mel

Mel — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:03:59 +0000

After the meeting the kids voted with their feet. Did you see how they selected the steps and courtyard right outside the meeting room? Without adult/official encouragement or direction they showed us that the skatespot already exists. There is enough lighting for night skaters. The area would satisfy the planners three requirements: it is approximately 3,000 sf; it is already an impervious surface; and, it is actually in the CBD so it would satisfy the Central Business District Sector Plan requirement which a Woodside Park location wouldn’t.

A skatespot there could be in action as quickly as Parks can install the concrete modular structures, street-style obstacles to do tricks on. 30 kids can’t be wrong! And, the Planning Board will have the satisfaction of demonstrating how well a skatespot functions without an operator or monitoring.

Editor’s note: Mel Tull works the economic and commercial development beat for Silver Spring’s regional center. — JD (Nov 10, 2009)

By: tj

tj — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:22:24 +0000

I hope that the skateboark park gets built and that the parks department does not listen to the nimby talk from the Woodside Civic Association. What does vandalized playground equipment and alcohol have to do with skateboarders? Not all kids are hanging out at the park drinking beer so lets not sterotype all kids. Most skateboarders I see are kids enjoying themselves and are not causing trouble.

By: Casey Anderson

Casey Anderson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:44:08 +0000

Since I am quoted in your post I want to clarify a couple of issues:

I support the idea of building a skateboarding facility in the park, but I don’t think the parks department has thought through the question of how to make sure it is sited in a way that minimizes the potential for problems.

And for the record, I do not believe that skaters are any better or any worse than any other group of park users. I think that if we have a lot more people in the park, a few of those people will be troublemakers, and that’s what the parks department needs to address in the way it designs the skate facility and plans for its operation.

The playground equipment in the park has been vandalized repeatedly and there is often evidence of alcohol use (e.g., broken beer bottles scattered around the picnic tables near the tennis courts). I think a major reason for the vandalism, alcohol use, and other problems is that the park is laid out in a way that many areas are hidden from view from the street, which prevents illegal activity from being detected until after the fact.

I also want to point out that contrary to what your story suggests, the parks department staff indicated that they will not move forward if the neighboring residents oppose it. The Woodside Civic Association sent the parks department a letter yesterday (Nov. 9) expressing our opposition until we can get answers to our concerns about how the facility will be designed and implemented. In other words, we have serious concerns about this project but hope and expect that they can be addressed in a way that will allow us to support it.

Casey Anderson

By: hugo

hugo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:40:28 +0000

skateboarding is not a crime

Editor’s note: Skateboarding isn’t, but doing it on private property when the landlord doesn’t want you there is. — JD (Nov 10, 2009)