Celia Jiménez here, following the latest update from my coworker Pam Marino about the ongoing saga of the skatepark project in Pacific Grove. On Wednesday, April 5, the Pacific Grove City Council voted 5-2 to stop the current effort to bring a skatepark to town.
Marino's previous reporting showed the battle would be hard to win. When Alex White, her two young sons Henry and Billy, and fellow P.G. residents Emily Haselbauer and Kelsea Richmond started their quest to get approval for a skatepark in the city, they quickly faced protest. After neighbors of George Washington Park asked the P.G. Recreation Board to remove that park from the list of possible locations, the board did just that.
Marino’s reporting revealed the main factions in town: Those who want their city to be a quiet place and worry that a skatepark will disrupt the peace, those that put protecting nature at a high premium and those who say the city doesn’t provide enough activities for kids and teens. The latter group includes a lot of those kids and teens themselves.
While the council is no longer considering building the skatepark at any of the already-identified locations, council members did show interest in funding more recreational activities for young people. The council told staff to look for another location for a future skatepark, but it’s unlikely a site can be found that will make everyone happy. It’s great the council is keeping the needs of Pacific Grove’s young residents in mind, but this seems a bit like lip service coming from a council that—after hearing from dozens of parents and kids asking for a skatepark—essentially said no.
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