It's a little strange no one saw this coming, but the new skatepark that opened up in West LA's Stoner Park is so noisy that the Los Angeles Times and the Santa Monica Mirror both report that apartment dwellers are up in arms about the constant racket. At least one resident has moved, while another has "duct-tap[ed] wadded-up plastic bags and egg-crate foam to his windows," according to the Times. The park is only supposed to be used when the sun is up, but some scofflaws are flouting the rules and doing ollies at all hours. A chainlink fence only partially covers the skatepark, but locals are asking for the fence to be extended. The idea of a sound wall has also been floated, but there are worries, reports the Mirror, that a wall would attract a graffiti-happy gang that frequented the park before the skaters arrived.
Councilman Bill Rosendahl defends the park as a boon to local kids, who previously skated around the nearby West LA Civic Center. Some residents are peeved, telling the Mirror they never received pamphlets indicating meetings regarding the skatepark, which was originally planned as a 14,000 square foot facility, but became 20,000 in final design. The fact that there was no environmental impact report on the skate park, and that other skateparks of this size are located in rural areas, has also ruffled feathers.
To remedy the situation some ideas have been floated:
-An effort between the city and skaters to secure more funds to address sound and fencing to keep people out after hours
-Round up a private sponsor to pay for sound improvements in the park
-Filling the hollow metal railings with sand to muffle noise, but according to the LAT, "any other efforts to reduce noise, he said, will be on hold until the LAPD conducts a 24-hour noise level test"
-Rosendahl said he also called for shorter hours for the skate plaza, but of course, that idea relies on people adhering to the rules.
· West LA Skatepark Too Much Noise for Neighbors [Santa Monica Mirror]
· West LA Skatepark Disrupting Residents [LA Times]
· CurbedWire: New West LA Skatepark [Curbed LA]
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