{"id":16025,"date":"2021-08-10T12:46:40","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T15:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/?p=16025"},"modified":"2021-08-10T12:46:52","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T15:46:52","slug":"sackville-council-squeaks-by-first-step-towards-lifting-skateboard-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/sackville-council-squeaks-by-first-step-towards-lifting-skateboard-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Sackville council squeaks by first step towards lifting skateboard ban"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sackville town council in session on August 9, 2021. Photo: Erica Butler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a tight 4-3 vote, Sackville town council approved first reading of an amended streets bylaw that would lift the ban on getting around town on a skateboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four councillors voted in favour: Allison Butcher, Andrew Black, Bill Evans and Sabine Dietz. And three councillors voted against: Ken Hicks, Michael Tower, and Matt Estabrooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bruce Phinney was absent for yesterday\u2019s meeting, and had been expected to vote against, since he also opposed a motion in April to pursue changes to the bylaw<\/a>. Phinney\u2019s absence on Monday prevented a draw, which would have meant a tie-breaking vote from Mayor Shawn Mesheau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That tie-breaking vote might still be needed next month, as the revised bylaw comes back to council for second and possibly third reading in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BALANCING RISKS AND BENEFITS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Bill Evans spoke about balancing the safety and liability risk associated with having skateboards on streets with other considerations, like freedom and fairness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to be prudent about telling others what they can or cannot do,\u201d said Evans. \u201cThere’s a big difference between regulation for the public good, and regulating people for their own good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs Councillor Hicks said at our last meeting, the most dangerous thing most of us do is drive a motor vehicle. But we don’t usually ban things that people want to do because they’re risky, we usually regulate them to manage the risk,\u201d said Evans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Sabine Dietz echoed the \u2018risk management\u2019 perspective of Evans, and also corrected her comments from last week\u2019s meeting, in which she expressed concern about the safety of streets for cycling and other forms of active transportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to go back to something that I said in the last meeting, which is I don’t feel safe\u2026 I need to clarify this because it’s not really true,\u201d said Dietz. \u201cI feel very safe in Sackville because I take precautions. So I wear a helmet. I drive my bike in the middle of the road if the side is parked with cars\u2026 I think that speaks to the responsibility that you take when you use our roads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur role and is not to eliminate all risks,\u201d said Dietz. \u201cLike I don’t expect the roads to be perfect for me as a cyclist. But I expect for the really dangerous pieces to be removed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dietz said she felt that not allowing skateboards on street would be logically equivalent to not allowing bikes, \u201cand I think that is something totally unrealistic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INVEST IN SKATEBOARD PARK INSTEAD<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Michael Tower was the first to speak against the revised bylaw. Tower said he was not pleased with the research provided by Moncton firm LAC Group, and took it upon himself to call around to municipalities with skateboard rules to find out for himself. He found that most places had some form of restriction, including limiting skateboards to side streets. He also found that many places had made investments in skatepark infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe municipalities which I contacted said that their biggest gain was working with the skateboarders and investing in a skateboard park,\u201d said Tower. \u201cI think that’s where we should be looking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I definitely don’t think we should allow them on Main Street or Bridge Street,\u201d said Tower, citing higher congestion and faster traffic. \u201cI think that’s one of the weakest points,\u201d said Tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A GREENER WAY TO GET MILK<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Allison Butcher agreed that investment in the skatepark was a good idea, but that the issue of allowing people to use skateboards to get around was a separate issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we’re looking at is meeting the needs of people who live a kilometre away from the grocery store and need milk, and can skateboard there faster than they can walk there, or can skateboard there in a greener manner,\u201d said Butcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI agree with Councillor Tower that we should be looking at improvements to our skate park, but I don’t think we have to make this an either\/or.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DON\u2019T WANT TO SEE SOMEBODY HURT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Matt Estabrooks opposed the revised bylaw, and said he felt cyclists, pedestrians and skateboarders should be considered differently, pointing out that infrastructure has developed to keep them separated from each other and motor vehicles. \u201cPeople walked before they drove bicycles,\u201d said Estabrooks. \u201cAnd when the car came along, we built infrastructure. We put in place sidewalks for them, so that we weren’t mixing, having vehicles and people in close proximity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estabrooks said he feels that the way skateboards are controlled\u2014by balance of the operator\u2014separates them from bikes. \u201cIt takes very little put the person off balance,\u201d said Estabrooks. \u201cSo I find myself in a situation where I don’t think I can support this because I don’t want to see somebody hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CALLING FOR MORE ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION OPPORTUNITIES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Andrew Black elaborated on Councillor Butcher\u2019s point about the difference between skateboarding for transportation and skateboarding at a skatepark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a huge difference between what it means to skate in a skatepark and what it means to skate on a road,\u201d said Black, pointing out that the proposed by-law prohibited tricks on skateboards while on town streets. \u201cThis bylaw allows people to do just what bikes are doing, which is travel from point A to point B.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black said he was supporting the bylaw changes because it \u201cfits right in\u201d to the town\u2019s recreation master plan, which calls for more active transportation opportunities. He also added that in a public safety liaison meeting with RCMP Sgt Paul Gagne, the officer shared his opinion that \u201cpeople who are skating currently are doing so in a safe manner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councilor Ken Hicks didn\u2019t speak on Monday, though did express his concerns over the safety of having people on skateboards share space with people in vehicles and on bikes at last week\u2019s discussion meeting. Hicks voted against first reading of the bylaw changes Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While first reading passed, the bylaw is expected back for second and third reading next week, and may require a tie-breaking vote from Mayor Shawn Mesheau at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sackville council considers scrapping anti-skateboard by-law<\/a><\/blockquote>