Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit for a proposed skate park Monday night.
Because the park will be operated by a government agency, the City of Sweet Home, the park required a conditional use permit. The use is allowed outright in the commercial zone for private landowners. The proposed park will be located on Long Street just east of School District 55’s Central Office and parking lot.
The Kiwanis Club raised some $10,000 toward the project. The city will add another $40,000 to the project to purchase portable skateboard equipment, including ramps, spines, grind rails and more.
Several neighbors of the proposed site opposed the request based on the effect it would have on their homes.
“This is one of several sites that were looked at,” City Manager Craig Martin said. A committee, including Kiwanis members, skate enthusiasts, city staff and community members looked at some 26 sites before settling on the proposed site.
The site will address concerns that had already been raised about undesirable activities, Martin said. “I’m not going to tell you that something like this couldn’t happen. It could happen at any of our parks.”
As a former county parks director, Martin said, his experience has shown that undesirable behavior takes place at parks that are out of the way and hidden from the public. Parks that are open to public view tend to have less.
The skateboard enthusiasts will need to police themselves, Martin said. “They know the importance of self-policing.”
They know that inappropriate activities could result in closure of the park, he said. The Police Department does not have the resources to monitor the park, so “in my opinion, the best deterrent is the users themselves.”
Sweet Home High School teacher Nancy Ellis and a group of students from a government class presented testimony in favor of the conditional use permit. The students were from one of three groups doing projects for the class. Among their work on the project was a survey among 395 students about the park.
Of those, Jessica Diercks said, 81 percent thought it was a good idea and that people would use it. Of those surveyed, 55 percent said they would use it while 139 said they would watch. Fifty-one would use it every day, and 54 would use it several times each week. Seventy-six said they would use it for both BMX and skateboards.
The location “is perfect because it’s right in the middle of town, so people can walk there so you don’t have to worry about parking issues,” Diercks told the Planning Commission.
The location is wide open where the public can see what is going on, student Tiffany Hamn said. Persons driving by, school administrators and neighboring residents can help keep an eye out for inappropriate behavior.
Student Rob Juza is chairman of the student committee dealing with the issue. He said he has used six different parks in Oregon and one in California.
“I haven’t seen any problems with graffiti,” Juza said. “It’s really rare.”
He does not believe trash will be an issue if trash cans are available nearby, Juza said. He has seen youths using drugs, smoking marijuana at the Corvallis park, but that park is located under an overpass and is hidden. He does not believe the same will happen at the proposed park.
“You get from kids what you expect,” Ellis told the commission. She has explained many times to kids that they need to step up and exercise self-control. “It can be put in one day. It can be pulled out in one day. It’s in your hands. These kids deserve a chance. There is not a lot to do in this community. I think this is the best place to put it.”
The skaters talk, act and dress differently, Dave Strom told the commission. “It doesn’t mean they’re all drug users. They’re just going down a different path.”
There will be skating whether there is a park, Strom said. With the skating comes damage to the corners on curbs and concrete structures. He suggested it would be better to provide skaters a place where they could safely grind instead.
Cyndi Pichardo led the opposition raising concerns about the potential for noise in the early morning when the park opens but people still sleep.
She lives 150 feet from the proposed park and owns a house across the street, where her tenants have told her they intend to move if the park was approved.
Several members of the Kiwanis Club said they intend to maintain an active role in assisting the community of Sweet Home in monitoring the activities at the skate park.
“We believe the quality of life for the residential houses directly across the street,” Pichardo said in a letter signed by her and her husband, Rick. “Who is going to be responsible for maintaining the peace for the juveniles who will surely use the facility unattended by their parents. As for the passing traffic being a deterrent for crime, in our experience, when driving our car, youths do not stop smoking their cigarettes or bother to stop cursing when we are walking by with our young son.”
Two other persons also testified in opposition to the park.
“I think this is really important to the young people,” Commissioner Frank Javersak said. “I think it will teach them responsibility.”
If the location does not work out, it can be changed later on, Javersak said.
Commissioner Rich Rowley lives west of the proposed site on the corner of 18th and Long where traffic is constantly noisy. He understands how neighbors might feel, but he believes they will become oblivious to potential noise like the probably have with traffic.
The Planning Commission approved the permit 7-0 with Bob Johnson, Javersak, Dr. Henry Wolthuis, Chairman Dick Meyers, Rowley, Al Culver and Michael Kinney voting yes. They imposed a condition that the park could not open until 8 a.m. and would close by dusk or 9 p.m. at the latest.
In other business, the commission:
– Approved the extension of a subdivision approval for Foster Lake Investments, which is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete easements and agreements for a proposed townhouse project overlooking Foster Lake.
– Approved a conditional use permit for Resurrection, Inc., owned by Clayton Stagmier and Tim Theodoroff to operate a limited retail business out of the city’s Flex Building, a grant-funded industrial incubator.
The nonprofit Resurrection, Inc., would lease the building from the city primarily as a mechanism for creating jobs.
Neighbors and Dan Desler of Development by Design initially opposed the permit, but withdrew their opposition when the owners addressed their concerns. They had been concerned about open storage and traffic among other things.
The business would have no open storage, Stagmier said, and the limited amount of retail business would generate little traffic.
One opponent maintained her position against the permit.
The building is located in a light industrial zone. Retail is a conditional use in the zone.
– Continued a hearing to decide whether Sprint PCS can site a cell tower at Sweet Home Police Department.