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Area board
against ban on play
at city car lots

Skaters use the Mililani
park-and-ride facility

By Suzanne Tswei
Star-Bulletin

The City Council is ready to ban skating, skateboarding and similar activities in the city's park-and-ride facilities, but the Mililani Neighborhood Board says that's a bad idea.

Because of liability, the Council is in favor of banning the popular sport activities at the facilities, said Rene Mansho, councilwoman representing Mililani and other Central Oahu areas.

The Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill prohibiting the activities at the city's three park-and-ride facilities.

But the Mililani/Waipio/Melemanu Neighborhood Board has adopted a resolution opposing a ban at the Mililani park-and-ride facility on Ukuwai Street.

"The park-and-ride has got the open spaces, so why not let the kids use it?" said Richard Poirier, the neighborhood board chairman. "There are not that many cars parked there, and it's a rather large facility with enough room for the kids to do it safely."

Poirier noted that the facility also is convenient for children, with a bus stop nearby to allow easy access.

"From our point of view, skateboarding and skating have become very popular, especially with teen-agers. We need to find a place for them to do this, otherwise they'd just go to the shopping mall, or the streets, where they shouldn't be," Poirier said.

Children and fast-moving skateboards do not belong on the street with automobiles or in malls and other public spaces that are crowded, Poirier said. Skaters have no other place to go except for a lot at the Maka'unulau 16-acre park in Mililani, which may be in use by others and not available at times.

A skating park is approved for Mililani and will be built at the Mililani District Park, Poirier said, but in the meantime the children have no appropriate place to go skating.

Skaters helped design the park, and construction is expected to begin this year, Mansho said.

She plans to present the neighborhood board's position before the Council this week, but she said the fear of lawsuits against the city is leading the Council toward a ban.

"It's really in everybody's best interest," Mansho said. "The concern is that the parking lot is not built for skateboarding and other activities like that. We are afraid if we don't pass this bill, an accident can happen and we will be liable for a lot of money."

The city has been unsuccessful in the state Legislature in obtaining immunity from lawsuits that stem from accidents in city facilities, Mansho said. But the city does have immunity from lawsuits resulting from injuries in ocean and other outdoor activities.

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City & County of Honolulu