Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Skate park appeal is not heard

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Thursday, May 24, 2001
Skate park appeal is not heard
Board's decision closes Millennium Skate Park
By Samuel Segrist
Caller-Times

   The battle for the existence of a backyard skate park on Ayers Street ended before it could begin Wednesday.
   The city's Zoning Board of Adjustment, which was to hear the case of Millennium Skate Park owners, ruled that it did not have the authority to hear the issue.
   The decision kills the legal operation of the park, owned and operated by Ray Hernandez and his wife, Nina, for the last 19 months.
   "I can't get over it, I can't believe this," Nina Hernandez said.
   Decisions made by the board can only be appealed with a lawsuit in district court. The couple said they had not decided if they would take that step.
   At issue is the definition of a skate park. The city has said that the skate park amounted to an amusement park, which is only allowed in industrial zoning or has to be indoors.
   The Hernandezes said the park should be considered an athletic field, which would have fit into the business zone in which the park is located at 2621 Ayers St.
   Last month, the adjustment board tabled the item until it could hear a recording of the first time the park went before the city's zoning commission.
   On the recordings played Tuesday, Nina Hernandez told the commission that she planned to enclose the structure at some point.
   The commission recommended the property to be zoned for business, which the City Council approved.
   The park was never enclosed.
   Nina Hernandez said the cost of building a warehouse was prohibitive, and before attempting that, the owners wanted to appeal to the board of adjustment.
   But, after the tapes were played the appeal never came.
   Assistant City Attorney Doyle Curtis told the board that, because the City Council based the zoning on the expectation that the park would be enclosed, the board could not redefine whether the park was an athletic field or amusement park.
   The board followed his advice and cut off discussion on the issue.
   "Is this America? I'm supposed to be able to talk," said Elias Paiz, a relative of the Hernandezes who came to speak in favor of the park.
   "I want to be able to see our kids off the streets doing something positive."
   The couple said they paid $250 in city fees to bring the appeal before the board last month, after the city's code enforcement department had fined the park owners. John Kendall, director of zoning and code enforcement, said the Hernandezes would receive a refund for their appeal.
   But the skate park, he said, is now an illegal operation and the couple will be fined if they reopen it.


Contact Samuel Segrist at 886-3764 or segrists@caller.com

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