After Proposed Ban in County Parks, Skateboarding Comes to Church Street

Lake Ronkonkoma, New York – July 16, 2007 – When residents of Lake Ronkonkoma were informed by Brookhaven Councilman Tim Mazzei (R-CD#5) that the construction of a skateboard ramp was imminent for Waltess Estates Park, the outcry was swift. A petition immediately began circulating and has dozens of signatures from concerned parents and homeowners seeking to prevent the construction.  With some lawmakers looking to ban skateboarding in all Suffolk County Parks, town parks are being investigated as alternative locations.

Lake Ronkonkoma residents are outraged that Waltess Estates Park, which faces busy Ronkonkoma Avenue, has been selected for a skateboard ramp project.  The park is only two blocks from the heavily trafficked L.I.E. North Service Road and just one block from St. Joseph R.C. Church.

To add insult to injury, a Hot Dog Vendor that has been a Lake Ronkonkoma mainstay for twenty years had his permit renewal denied to make way for an expected influx of cars in the Park’s small parking lot. The Waltess Estates Park parking lot is located on the corner of Ronkonkoma Avenue and Church Street.

“We, the residents and taxpayers are highly against this park which will encourage loitering and disturbance of the peace to our neighborhood,” reads part of the petition circulating in the Waltess Estates area. Other concerns being cited include increased traffic, inadequate parking, increased potential for physical injury to neighborhood children and visiting skateboarders, and ultimately, a decrease in property values.

In a November 23, 2006 Newsday article, it was reported that Suffolk County Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook) sponsored a skateboarding bill seeking to prevent damage to county-owned facilities, including parks, by banning skateboards except in designated areas.  Lindsay said he was responding to damage done at recently renovated Raynor Beach County Park in Lake Ronkonkoma. Skateboarding already is prohibited there.

“We just spent $2.2 million to fix up the park and the kids are destroying it,” Lindsay was quoted as saying.

A town meeting is being held on August 9, 2007 at 6:00 PM in Brookhaven Town Hall. Residents are asked to show their solidarity against the park construction by attending.

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