At the July 2 town meeting commissioners voted to close the skateboard park in Emmitsburg Community Park and return the site
to its original purpose as a tennis court. The recommendation to close the park came from the Parks and Recreation Commission
which cited almost no use of the skateboard facilities because of declining supervision. The deterioration of the ramps was also
a factor.
At the inception of the skateboard proposal,
the commissioners felt that they could not
afford to pay a supervisor, so they relied
instead upon an organization of parents and
other adults who agreed to provide the required
supervision on a regular basis. Insurance for
the park provided by the Local Government Trust
required the presence of adult supervision while
the park was open.
The schedule developed by the adults for 30
days was not adhered to and it soon became a
situation where individual parents, when their
children wanted to skate, would go to the town
office to get the key and open the park, and
then return the key when their family was
finished. With this procedure, there was never a
set time that the facility was opened and,
understandably, the use of the facility was
extremely limited.
The park was opened in April 2000. The town
funded the project for $4,000 and Leo Hobbs and
Pat Wivell headed the team of parents and
friends who spent "at least 150 man
hours" building the ramps for the
skateboard park. The skateboard ramps will now
be removed and tennis net posts reinstalled.
In other actions the council rejected a text
amendment (01-12) to ordinance 17.36.090 to
allow an auction house in the Village Zone (the
Village Zone includes East and West Main Street
from Creamery Road down to the east side of
Rutters, and North and South Seton Avenue from
the Post Office and Pizza Hut to Creekside
Drive.) Residents Mike Boyle, Jerry Orndorff,
and Kenny Howard spoke in opposition to the
proposed change citing what they believed was
the lack of adequate parking space at the
assumed location of the Antique Mall for such a
business. The council voted 4 - 1 against the
motion. (The mayor now votes with the 4
commissioners giving a total of five votes).
Jim Hoover voted for the amended text. He
told the Dispatch that he believed the problem
of parking is covered elsewhere in the Town
codes. "It would be up to the Board of
Appeals and Planning and Zoning to verify that
the proposed site has required parking
space," he said. "Not the
council."
The council then voted 5-0 to accept a text
amendment (01-13) to ordinance 17.20.050 to
allow an auction house in the Business District
(any zone in the town except the Village or
Residential Zone.
