Last night I braved the deluge to attend the public hearing on the citywide skatepark plan, which proposes 26 new skatepark sites around Seattle (check out the map here). Getting to the meeting was an adventure itself. I love riding the buses during crazy weather — remember when it was snowing and you could tell everyone on the bus is just thinking, “Snow!” — and last night’s ride involved a couple belting “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” at the crowded stop and, later, the driver pulling the fuckin’ ballsiest bus driver move ever: pulling around a line of stopped cars at the corner of Pine and Boren and roaring through the intersection past a stalled car (“Ye-ah!” said a man from Oklahoma up in front, “I like this driver!” and everyone on the bus cheered).

The meeting, though… much less exciting than the trip to the meeting. People showed up as early as 5PM to sign up to speak in front of the Board of Parks Commissioners, who will evaluate the plan and vote yah or nay on January 11th. The skatepark portion of the meeting didn’t actually start till 7:15 and I’m impressed with anyone who has the physical and mental strength to sit through over an hour of mind-numblingly dull Parks presentations just to express their feelings for three measly minutes. The room, in the basement of the grand Town Hall, felt mostly deserted, with only 31 people occupying the many rows of chairs, accompanied by the constant thumping of some Northwest School pageant taking place overhead.

Susanne Friedman, the Project Manager, noted that over 700 citizens made comments on the project during its conception and the City has “heard very clearly from the public that there is a need for skate parks.” She also presented skating as a rather innocuous Martha Stewart-esque pastime, describing skatedots as “little elements peppered throughout the City… such as a whimsical bench or chair.”

Nineteen people gave testimony in total, with several skaters — most of them older — thanking the Parks Dept for all their work in creating safe places for kids to skate.

The main opposition to the plan is neighbors who are upset about possibly losing green space to the cement skate parks. While the Skatepark Taskforce prioritized sites that are already covered in asphalt of cement, several parks are slated to be built on what is now grassy open land. Neighbors from Genesse Park showed up to say that they’d formed a 30-family neighborhood association in response to concerns about the planned district skatepark which would occupy up to 30,000 square feet of green space. The group pointed out that the Taskforce has been using somewhat shaky numbers to assess the demand of skating in Seattle — there’s been no actual count of skaters in the city, instead the project’s been estimating the number of Seattle skaters by extrapolating from national figures.

The Parks Board seemed excited overall (“In another life, I’ll be thin and a skater,” said Commissioner Ramels) and definitely committed to building skate facilities. They’re concerned though, too, about green space and how the parks’ cement will affect storm water at the sites. They’ll keep reviewing and take a vote January 11th.