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Residents urge Shrewsbury to hold Skyzone accountable after large June 7 disturbance
Summary
Residents and board members discussed a June 7 disturbance at Skyzone, with a presubmitted comment calling the event poorly secured and urging the City to consider licensing or zoning leverage; the board praised public safety response but took no formal enforcement action at the meeting.
A presubmitted written comment and public remarks at the June 9 Board of Aldermen meeting urged the City of Shrewsbury to press Skyzone, a commercial trampoline park on Watson Road, to address what a resident described as repeated public-safety disturbances associated with the business.
In a written statement read into the record, resident Kathleen Kearns said the June 7 “6-7 Event” drew a very large, largely unsupervised crowd and that “the decision to promote a widely broadcast '6-7 Event' without making adequate provision for security — despite the foreseeable likelihood of a very large and largely unsupervised crowd — reflects, at a minimum, poor judgement.” Kearns said the resulting chaos extended beyond Skyzone’s walls and asked the City to consider what leverage it might have through licensing, zoning, or direct engagement with the property owner.
Mayor John Odenwald publicly thanked the Shrewsbury Police Department and neighboring agencies for their coordination in managing the incident. James “Homer” Holmes, who spoke during the public-comment period, also praised the police response and said he had discussed with the property owner the possibility of adopting an 18-and-older policy for some events. Holmes additionally raised a separate traffic-safety concern about vegetation obstructing sightlines at Verguene and Murdoch.
Police Chief Lisa Vargas’s May report, delivered earlier in the meeting, showed the department handled 345 calls for service in May and conducted 397 traffic stops; the department was singled out by Kearns and multiple public commenters for its rapid response to the June 7 disturbance.
The Board did not take formal enforcement action against Skyzone at the meeting. City staff and elected officials discussed options in broad terms; City Administrator Dustin Ziebold indicated staff would pursue appropriate next steps but did not announce any specific regulatory measures. The board did express support for continued coordination among public-safety agencies and for staff to evaluate potential city leverage over businesses that repeatedly generate public-safety incidents.
The Board will review further information as it becomes available; no ordinance, emergency order, or licensing action was introduced or voted on at the June 9 meeting. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for June 23, 2026.
