Ordinance banning playing in street tabled indefinitely

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2002 | 11 a.m.

Resident Bernette Reed sat in the rear corner of the Henderson City Council chambers, exchanging whispers with her 12-year-old daughter, Stephanie Woodall, who like her three brothers, plays basketball and football in the street.

"I wanted her to see how this all works and all these people fighting for her rights," said Reed after Tuesday's meeting. "Everyone has ridden a bike in the street. Just because a few old biddies complain and there's a few bad kids is not reason to change the lifestyle for everyone else."

City Council members argued Tuesday as they have for the past two weeks that the intent of the proposed street games ordinance was to encourage kids to clean up after themselves and vacate the road as cars passed by. It encouraged common sense, they said, nothing more. It was never the council's intent to prohibit kids from playing in the street, they said.

But in the end, Mayor Jim Gibson and Councilman Steve Kirk -- who opposed the ordinance from the start -- were joined by the rest of the council in voting to table the ordinance indefinitely, shelving a proposal that would have legislated good neighborly manners and old-fashioned civility with the threat of a misdemeanor ticket.

As proposed, it would have outlawed leaving basketball hoops, skateboard ramps and other sports equipment unattended in a public street. It also would have banned play in streets that impeded traffic. Both would have been misdemeanors punishable by a ticket and fine.

Only Reno and a handful of other municipalities across the nation have similar laws.

"I'd rather see us not give in to the temptation to pass this law, particularly when the real issue is civility," Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson said.

"We all know full well the kids that try to block you when you come driving down the road and dare you to run them over -- this ordinance may not help that."

Several older residents spoke in favor of the ordinance.

George Kawahara, a resident of a well-established neighborhood of homeowners, said the ordinance would help combat the parents who lived in newer rental homes and "let their kids run in the streets."

Unlike Gibson, who was worried about dodging kids while driving, Kawahara was concerned about dodging kids on wheels while putting his trash out for pickup.

"Bicycles, skateboards, scooters," Kawahara said. "They come down the street as hard as they can and let people hope the devil they won't run you over."

But Lorraine Siano, one of several younger parents to speak in opposition to the ordinance, said if the regulations were passed to appease the "neighbor who hates your kids," parents might hesitate to let their kids play outside.

Siano, like others, questioned whether the ordinance was as benign as some council members were explaining it.

"We don't believe it's that benign," Siano said. "I would hate to be on the street arguing who is actually impeding the safe passage of vehicles or not."

City staff drafted the ordinance after complaints increased from residents, code enforcement officers and police confronted by kids playing in streets who were reluctant to make way for cars. City maintenance workers also complained about having to work around portable hoops and skateboard ramps while cleaning streets.

But even the plan to outlaw sports equipment left unattended in the street, a far less controversial element of the proposed ordinance, had its critics.

"Aren't parked cars harder for them to get around (than portable hoops) when they're collecting trash?" Deanna Wright asked.

Kirk answered in a general way, calling the ordinance "almost ridiculous" and adding that "most of our parents would be disappointed that we even have to be talking about this."

"Every single person I talked to these past couple weeks, without exception, said the same thing: 'When I was a kid, we played in the street.' "

Despite the city's commendable and nationally recognized efforts to build parks, Kirk said, more are needed.

Gibson suggested that neighbors call the city's neighborhood services department to resolve conflicts rather than police.

Everyone, both city officials and residents, agreed that in the meantime, parents need to teach their kids to be courteous of neighbors.

After all, Stephanie Woodall's lesson in municipal government wasn't something she'd thought up on her own.

Grinning at her mother in the lobby of City Hall, Stephanie said, "She made me come." As an afterthought, the bespectacled 12-year-old added, "And I can beat my brothers up."