The Hanover Board of Selectman voted on Monday to ban skateboarding on sidewalks in the town's business district in an effort to improve public safety and lower the cost of property maintenance.
This ban, which takes effect on Oct. 8, will institute fines of up to $100 for violating the ordinance.
The original proposal, which came before the board in June, called for a ban on in-line skates, roller skates and skateboards on the sidewalks of Hanover from School Street to Crosby Street and from West Wheelock street to Dorrance Place.
The proposal the board approved on Monday did not ban in-line skates and roller skates.
Town Manager Clifford Vermilya said the town originally proposed the ban because patrons of local businesses said they were intimidated by the local youths' skateboarding and because there was damage to railings and concrete curbs.
In June, Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaccone told The Dartmouth that "the skateboarders were using some recent decor that the town and the Hanover Improvement Society had spent over half a million dollars on."
In an attempt to fight off the ban, town skateboarders agreed over the summer to police themselves. The town agreed to table the proposal and put off further discussion.
But the local youths were unable to keep things under control.
"The problem is that Hanover, being the only town that allows [skateboarding], we got [skateboarders] in from everywhere, and the local kids lost control," said David Cioffi, the owner of the Dartmouth Bookstore on Main Street.
Renewed complaints from businesses and Hanover residents forced the board to consider the issue again this month. This time, the board ignored the protests from local youths and unanimously passed the ban.
The goal of the ban is to ensure public safety and to eliminate any damage to property, Vermilya said. One of the primary complaints about the skateboarders was that they intimidated shoppers from coming near local businesses.
But local business owners had mixed reactions to the decision.
Cioffi said the skateboarders were not a problem when they patrolled themselves, but they became problematic when they got out of control and could not patrol themselves.
Cioffi said he received several complaints "from customers who had walked out the door and had almost been run over."
Jack Stinson, owner of Stinson's Village Store on Allen Street, said skateboarders make the sidewalks more dangerous for pedestrians.
"It is intimidating when you've got someone going that fast," Stinson said.
But Stinson said, "I had no problem with them. It's great for business -- it's good to have young people around."
Christy Hazen, who works at Eastman's Pharmacy on Main Street, said, "I really don't think it ever affected our business."
On the other hand, local youths had overwhelmingly negative reactions to the ban.
Nick Hall, a local resident, said skateboarders "don't destroy property -- and no one's been hurt." Hall said he thinks the complaints were just "from senior citizens who don't like us being different."
"The ban is really unfair, especially since they didn't ban rollerbladers," Hall said.
Vermilya said the police receive relatively few complaints about in-line skaters, and said in-line skates do not damage the sidewalks and curbs.
Cioffi said he agrees, noting that in-line skaters are not as numerous and usually skate in the early morning, when the town is not as crowded.
Skateboarder Justin Matheson said, "if they had one place for us to go -- if they had a skate park -- we'd go there."
We "would build it, but we just need a place," he said.
Ben Guest, a 14-year old freshman at Hanover High School, appeared before the Board of Selectman in May to defend skateboarders.
"My father skateboarded in Hanover," Guest told The Dartmouth in June. "I think that skateboarding in Hanover has a deep history. I think people have this fear of skateboarding. I think a lot of people think we have less control than we really do."
Cioffi said he would like to see the town's Recreation Department get involved and find a place for the residents to skateboard.
"Some of these kids are good," he said. "I think it should be a sport."
Stinson, a Recreation Department member, said, "no one wants to kick them out. We all want to find a space for them. The Recreation Department is more than willing to do something."
"The money's not the issue," Stinson said. "I need a surge of parents -- an adult force to drive this. Such a program would need adult supervisors in order to keep the insurance rates down."
Cioffi said he agrees that the skateboarders should be given a place to practice.
"I would go along with any plan the Recreation Department could come up with," he said.
