This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
11/16/2021 02:40 PMAfter almost a year of postponement, the Park & Recreation Department has finally scheduled a public hearing for the public to weigh in on the future of the skate park. The public hearing will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, at the Indian River Complex.
About 10 years ago, the town converted tennis courts at the Ethel Peters Recreation complex into a skatepark. Late last year, Clinton Park & Recreation Department head Robert Potter said that due to declining use, the department was interested in hearing from the public if the park should be kept.
A public hearing had been planned for early 2021 but due to the uncertainty caused by rising cases of COVID-19 at the time, the meeting was put off until it could be rescheduled. At a meeting on Nov. 9, almost 11 months since the issue was first brought up, the public hearing date was finally set.
Potter stressed to the Harbor News that no decision about the future of the park has been made yet.
“We don’t want people to think we’re getting rid of the skate park. We’re not. We’re being neutral. We just want to see what people think about the park either way,” said Potter.
The park is closed seasonally from November to April, so passersby won’t notice any activity on the park over the next several months. However, in 2020 Potter said that the lack of use isn’t the only issue that has been raised about the park.
“There’s been a lot of discussion about how much it costs to maintain it,” Potter said at the time.
Additionally, there have been complaints of vandalism and “unwanted activities besides what the intended use of the park is for,” according to Potter.
Skaters are a demographic that can carry a stigma, particularly from older people, for sometimes engaging in poor behavior. Despite the less-than-stellar perception that some people may have of those who use the skatepark, it is not a major source of problems for the town.
Asked about the number of calls regarding incidents at the park, Clinton Chief of Police Vincent DeMaio said in 2020 that the department does “get a few but nothing above average.”
When it was first reported that the commission was interested in gauging the interest in the skate park, several teens and parents reached out to the Harbor News to state they still had interest.
“I can assure you that year-round, I see dozens of peers from The Morgan School and other families and skaters going to spend time together. This past summer, I had spent the majority of it at the skatepark whether it was raining or if it was past sundown,” Ruby Tuccitto wrote in an email about the topic.
Potter said that the feedback shown at the January public hearing will help guide the commission in whatever it decides to do next.
Once the hearing is held, a report will be done and the commission will make a recommendation to Town Manager Karl Kilduff and the Town Council members, according to Potter.