Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Skate Park topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Skate community presses board to put Cambria skate park out to bid after 5.5-year delay
Summary
Skateboarders and project supporters told the Cambria board they’re running out of patience and urged officials to push the skate park RFP forward, citing stalled restroom engineering and county permitting as the main delays.
Skate park advocates urged the Cambria Community Services District board on Feb. 12 to move the long-delayed Skate Cambria project to bid, saying local volunteers and donors have already raised significant funds and that further delay damages a generation of young people. "It's been 5.5 years," said Connor Hendry, who identified himself as a skateboard park builder and nonprofit president. "We almost have a full generation that has not had the experience of skating."
General Manager McElhaney told the board the formal hold-up is county permitting tied to engineering calculations for a prefabricated restroom. He said the restroom vendor (PRC) remains behind schedule; the district’s contracted engineer produced interim calculations but the county insisted those come from the vendor. McElhaney summarized the schedule risk: staff estimates an additional 8–11 weeks before the necessary calculations are completed and the RFP can go out. "So we could be anywhere between 8 to 11 weeks before we have everything we need to proceed to go to RFP," he said.
Residents at the meeting — including Aaron Lynn, Julian Amadeau and Zoom commenters — asked that routine reports be scheduled earlier in meetings so the public need not wait for items of local interest. Chelsea Foster, joining on Zoom, framed the issue bluntly: "It's not a matter of if the skate park will happen. It's a matter of when."
Board members and staff discussed practical options, including building the skate surface first while deferring final restroom installation (temporary sanitary facilities were mentioned) and applying for time-limited permits and subsequent temporary occupancy if required. The general manager noted an extension application has been filed with the county and that design revisions from the project’s designer had only recently been finalized — a factor staff said prevented earlier RFP release. The board did not adopt a separate action on the skate park at the meeting but reaffirmed that the ad hoc committee and staff continue to pursue permitting and vendor follow-up.
