Legalize Skateboarding in Mountain View, CA. in Shoreline Park and on the Stevens Creek Trail

Thanks to all the petition signers, as of August 2015, skateboarding on the Shoreline and Stevens Creek trails is allowed for a one-year trial:
- http://www.mountainview.gov/depts/cs/parks/trails/default.asp
Let's all be respectful of other trail users and hopefully in August 2016, full time access will be granted!

Current Mountain View Ordinance 7.92 Section 38.20(g) prohibits skateboard use on the multiple-use trails at Shoreline Park and on the adjoining Stevens Creek Trail:
Section 38.20(g)

The main concern of the city is that a falling skateboard rider may cause his/her board to fly away at high speed and that board could cause injury to nearby trail user.

We argue that this is not the case with the type of longer skateboards (longboards) that would be used on the flat trails typical of these parks. In longboard pushing and pumping, as opposed to park and trick skateboard riding, typically when a rider falls, it is because the longboard encounters debris or an obstruction in the trail and suddenly stops. This causes the rider to continue forward, losing contact with the board. And since the fall was initiated by the board stopping and the rider left the board due to the sudden stop, the board usually remains right where it stopped, or at most rolls slowly a few feet off to the side of the trail. After all, without an external application of force, an object at rest remains at rest according to Sir Isaac Newton.

With the miles and miles of flat, featureless trails in these city parks, the riding of skateboards suitable for skate parks is not likely due to their short wheel base and small, hard wheels that do not roll well on the rough asphalt paving. The longboards suitable for use on these type of trails feature longer wheel bases, larger, softer wheels and truck setups that optimize the boards for long distance travel.

Also we argue that the existing regulation prohibiting skateboarding is inconsistent with neighboring cities that have multiple-use trails that connect with those in Mountain View.

In both Sunnyvale and Palo Alto, skateboarding is permitted and encouraged on paved multiple-use trails in those cities. And there is minimal signage present at the Mountain View boundaries on those connecting trails to advise trail users of the change in regulation. We have contacted the Friends Of Stevens Creek Trail and they are in favor of longboard use on their segments of the mentioned trails.

Finally, longboard/skateboard riding is a environmentally friendly mode of transportation and is consistent with the multiple-use aspect of the paved trails in the city parks.

Be sure to check the web page for updates, we are still waiting for the city to research the issue.