City Ordinance?

A city of Savannah ordinance states that skateboarding in prohibited areas will result in a $60 dollar fine, which is really $121 once all fees are added. However, section 7-1133 of the Savannah city code does not explain what constitutes a prohibited area­–a situation that is pitting the Savannah Metropolitan Police Department against skateboarders in the area. Skaters are required to follow the for pedestrians if on streets or sidewalks, but those areas do not stem to fall under the category of “prohibited area.”

Third year Savannah College of Art and Design photography major Alex Bushnell from Tahoma Park, MD, has long-boarded around Savannah since first coming to SCAD three years ago. One night, while riding his board around town he was told, “get off,” by a SCMPD officer.

“It’s pretty simple. I was told to get off my board, so I did,” he said.

According to Bushnell, skaters all get crammed into a genre of punk drug users (especially in the eyes of cops). Bushnell said he believes skating isn’t harmful, but rather a healthy activity.

“If Savannah had a public skate park that’s in decent shape you wouldn’t have such a spiteful attitude from skaters toward people telling them not to skateboard,” he said. “Anything that involves all of your senses and causes you to think while being outdoors is healthy and helping this place.”

SCAD film and television major Aaron Lynton is a skater with more involvement with the skateboarding scene in Savannah. Lynton has a little more to say about the cops’ apparent confusion over the city ordinance. He laughs for a moment before talking about the wild things he’s heard cops say to him while skateboarding in Savannah.

“I bet most of them are lying though,” he said. “I’ve had cops throw me in the back of their car and search my car. In their eyes, I skated, so I’m obviously a punk. This other time, a few friends and I were skating then two different cop cars ambushed us from separate directions. They rolled up without their lights on, put us in cuffs and told us we were going to jail. A Savannah cop once even asked me where I was hiding the spray paint, because he figures I skate, so I must do that too. It’s like they just want to get you into trouble.”

True, skateboarding in prohibited areas isn’t allowed. It will result in $121 worth of fines, should you get caught. However, there is clearly some confusion over what constitutes a “prohibited area.” It does not stand to reason that SCMPD officers can accuse skaters of violating the ordinance when they are legally skating on the street. Skaters do need to follow traffic laws acknowledge that they are subjected to the same rules as pedestrians, while riding their skateboards. Realize though, that the ordinance does not give cops the right to bully you off your board.