From: Adam Thaler Subject: [sfskaters] Skaters Seek Green Light From City Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 10:46:00 -0800 (PST) Wednesday, December 18, 1996 7 Page A20 )1996 San Francisco Chronicle ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Skaters Seek Green Light From City Supervisor wants to give them more room to roll Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer On top of everything else that is allowed in San Francisco, skating on downtown streets and sidewalks may soon join the lineup. Under a new proposal that rolled before the Board of Supervisors this week, roller and in-line skating will be allowed from dawn to sunset on all streets and sidewalks, and until midnight on business district streets and sidewalks. The proposed ordinance, introduced on Monday by Supervisor Tom Ammiano, would allow the Friday Night Skate, a rolling tour of San Francisco that draws hundreds of skaters and occasional ire and citations from cops. Ammiano said the idea ``doesn't seem to be very controversial'' and predicted passage of the bill early next year. For years, adult skaters have seethed at laws that classify their increasingly high-tech and pricey conveyance as a ``toy vehicle or similar device'' in the coaster wagon genre. They want the law to grant them the same right to share the road that bicyclists now have. Paul Pillitteri, a liaison for the California Outdoor Roller Skating Association, called the proposal a ``reasonable first step.'' The group wants skating allowed everywhere at all hours. ``We're not renegades, we're responsible members of the community,'' Pillitteri said. ``Just because we're on wheels doesn't mean we're disrespectful to pedestrians and other people.'' The law would mean an end to citations of skaters by police. In past months, dozens of participants in the Friday Night Skate have received tickets for unruly skating or sidewalk skating. Grabbing onto moving vehicles while skating would still be illegal. Under the proposal, children would not be allowed to skate in the street unless accompanied by an adult. Pillitteri said skaters seek to climb the hierarchy of wheeled vehicles and achieve parity with bicycles, while leaving behind devices such as skateboards which, he suggested, are largely the domain of kids. ``Skateboards do appear to be different from roller skates in terms of their demographics,'' he said. ``And skateboarders do not want to be lumped in with us, anyway. They have some sort of attitude. I think they see roller skaters as a little too establishment.''