VILLA PARK : Skateboards, Bikes Banned at Center

The City Council this week banned skateboarding and bicycle riding from the Villa Park Shopping Center in an attempt to make it safe for shoppers.

“Kids on the skateboards have near-misses with people and cars all the time,” City Manager Fred Maley said. “It’s been a hazard and a problem in the shopping center for years.”

Under an ordinance approved Tuesday, skateboarders and bicyclists will be prohibited from the shopping center beginning next month. Parking bikes and skateboards there also will be outlawed.

“It’s a good thing,” said Kim Johanson, who manages Rockwell’s Bakery in the shopping center. “A lot of older people shop here and I see skateboarders whip by behind them. It’s hard to walk and hear someone barreling real fast behind you, and it scares them.”

Citing skateboarders or bicyclists was tricky for police, said Orange County Sheriff’s investigator Jaena Imboden. She said the new ordinance will make ticketing violators easier.

“The kids ride in the driveways and the parking lots, and the cops had to wait to ticket them until they got on the sidewalk,” Maley said. “That frustrated them.”

But more importantly, Imboden said, the new law will help prevent serious injuries from occurring.

Riding bikes and skateboards in the center “is a hazard not only for the people driving through but for the kids who could get knocked off and get hurt,” Imboden said. “That’s what we want to avoid.”