{"id":12016,"date":"2021-04-06T09:43:41","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T12:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/?p=12016"},"modified":"2021-04-06T09:48:28","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T12:48:28","slug":"sackville-council-tried-once-before-to-lift-the-ban-on-skateboards-in-favour-of-peacful-coexistence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/sackville-council-tried-once-before-to-lift-the-ban-on-skateboards-in-favour-of-peacful-coexistence\/","title":{"rendered":"Sackville council tried once before to lift the ban on skateboards, in favour of “peaceful coexistence”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by Max Tarkhov<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When Sackville town council meets tonight (6:30pm, online on Youtube<\/a> or Microsoft Teams<\/a>) for its monthly special meeting, skateboards will be back on the agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A proposal to amend the town\u2019s street traffic by-law made first reading in February<\/a>, proposing to remove the section that bans skateboards outright from streets and sidewalks. It also added skateboards alongside roller blades and bicycles, which are both allowed on Sackville streets, but not on sidewalks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The change was due to go to second and third reading in March, but a report from town clerk Donna Beal explained<\/a> that \u201cafter receiving information from the town\u2019s insurance provider, further review is needed, and it is likely that subsequent discussions will be required.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not the first time that the discussion around skateboards on streets, and Sackville\u2019s ban on them, has made it to the council table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview back in February, Councillor Bill Evans recalled the idea was brought forward back in 2014 by then-bylaw officer Jeff Brooks, who told the policy and by-law liaison councillors that he wanted to reconcile the fact that while the bylaw prohibited using skateboards on streets and sidewalks, there were still people doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe had a law on the books that was not being enforced,\u201d says Evans. \u201cAnd he wanted some direction because his recommendation is either we tell him to enforce it, or we change the bylaws. But he was not comfortable having a bylaw that he was \u2018wink, wink, nudge, nudge\u2019 not enforcing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evans says at the time he himself was in favour of finding a way to restore access for skateboarders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can remember saying at a meeting, our goal is to try to find a way to share the planet. If we can’t share the roads or the sidewalks, then we’re doomed,\u201d says Evans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverybody seemed to be in favour of peaceful coexistence,\u201d says Evans, \u201cfinding a way to make this work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then the RCMP weighed in, asking for the bylaw to be kept at the status quo so as to allow for discretion in enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the RCMP said they did not support it, then staff stopped supporting it. And so the policy and bylaw committee was not in a position to recommend to council that they make this change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evans recalls that a motion was brought to council asking for staff to look into possible changes to the bylaw, but council didn\u2019t support it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue discussed in 2014 didn\u2019t just involve access to streets, but also sidewalks. Evans recalls he had also
heard from two parents requesting that their kids be allowed to skateboard on the sidewalks in front of their houses, while simply yielding to pedestrians that came along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt would be used just like ball hockey,\u201d says Evans. \u201cYou use the road and then you yell \u2018car!\u2019 and you get off the road. In the same way, you would skateboard on the sidewalk until there was a pedestrian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the approach used by many kids now in Sackville, especially when it comes to bicycles. While technically riding on sidewalks is prohibited at all times, on school days many a young child makes their way to school riding a bike on town sidewalks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHANGE IS LONG OVERDUE, SAYS RESIDENT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jon Phinney uses a skateboard to get around downtown in Sackville, and has been doing so for decades. In an interview in February, he said some sort of change in the rules is long overdue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phinney has had run-ins with bylaw officers in the past, asking him to either get off his skateboard or face a fine. \u201cThis was a little bit infuriating,\u201d says Phinney. \u201cI mean, we pay some of the highest taxes in the country here. I think I should be able to skateboard around. Especially [since it\u2019s] something I’ve been doing for this long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phinney doesn\u2019t see a reason for the distinction between skateboard and bikes in the current bylaw. \u201cIt’s no different than a bicycle,\u201d says Phinney. \u201cAnd kids can be on the streets with bicycles, as long as they’ve been taught what to do and how to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education could be the key to safety concerns, says Phinney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was a kid, I remember there was a bicycle derby and everybody would go down. They put on a thing to make sure that you knew all the road rules for cars and bicycles, so that we can function in the same space,\u201d says Phinney. \u201cMaybe that would be an option for skateboarding as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sackville town council will discuss the streets bylaw tonight at their special meeting at 6:30pm. Residents can listen in on Youtube or join the meeting via Microsoft Teams<\/a>. A question period for residents will take place at the end of the public portion of the agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Streets up for discussion Tuesday evening at town council special meeting<\/a><\/blockquote>