CCMIN12012020 - Laserfiche WebLink

Councilmember Brown stated the 2014 Parks and Recreation Master Plan has been extremely active, already seeing the completion of two tennis courts and the all-ability playground, and now the skatepark is in motion. She expressed her admiration for the young people advocating for the skatepark. In response to Councilmember Brown's inquiry, Assistant Director of Library and Recreation Crose clarified the red mark on her map is simply a placeholder and there is no intention of removing those trees to build the skatepark. To this point, they would actually like to incorporate the shade of those trees and apologized for the confusing placement of the red blob. In response to Councilmember Brown's inquiries, Assistant Director of Library and Recreation Crose clarified the focal point of noise concerns should be the skateboards themselves, but staff is confident the noise in the surrounding area would buffer skatepark noise. She added lights from the softball fields, the street, and restaurants like Hop Yard will assist, although staff will consider the lighting in the design phase. In response to Councilmember Brown's inquiry, Assistant Director of Library and Recreation Crose stated parks visited all have signage warning space is used at your own risk along with recommendations for helmets and other safety measures. She cited Fremont Skate Park as an example, stating staff will check on the park if issues arise but they are not there permanently for monitoring. Assistant Director of Library and Recreation Crose stated the City's current skateparks have a similar rider safety and staff monitoring plan. In response to Vice Mayor Narum's inquiries, Assistant Director of Library and Recreation Crose conveyed skateboarders have asked for additional lighting and she expects to hear from several of them in public comments. She stated staff will discuss potential needs for additional lighting with designers but staff feels the lighting is adequate between Hop Yard, the softball fields, and the commercial property next door. Vice Mayor Narum opened public comment. Ethan Chih expressed his support for lights to permit nighttime skateboarding, an acre of space, and for the skatepark to be named in honor of David Lambert for his dedication to Pleasanton's youth. Tadashi Yamaoda expressed his enthusiasm for the project and for lights being on until 11:00 p.m. for older skaters like himself who work during the day. He stated his hope for a full acre and cited the addition of skateboarding to the 2021 Summer Olympic Games as a sign of the sport's continued growth. He also added there is very little maintenance cost for a cement park making it a great overall investment for the City and supported the idea of naming it for David Lambert. Whitman Hall expressed his support for the project overall, having lights on until 11:00 p.m., and using an acre or more. He stated people come from other communities to use Fremont Skate Park and a larger park in Pleasanton could benefit the community. He also endorsed naming it for David Lambert. Ryder Kuckein expressed his support for adding lights and spoke of the value of the skatepark during the pandemic in particular being an individual activity. He echoed the comments of growing the skating community in Pleasanton's potential effect of attracting skaters to come to the new park from outside of the City. He endorsed the central location of Ken Mercer Sports Park for being convenient to get to, even for those like himself who are too young to drive. Mr. Kuckein called for not completely surrounding the park with grass like the current one which makes handicapped access difficult. Ryan Korn expressed the need for the new park to be an acre or more for optimal success for both rider safety and attracting citizens of Livermore and other cities. He also voiced support for lighting as late as possible. City Council Minutes Page 5 of 11 December 1, 2020