Chapter 5: Management

Litter
Waste containers are required by any public facility that hopes to maintain a tidy appearance. Debris in a skatepark is particularly bad for three reasons. First, it emphasizes the preconception that skateboarders are vandals who don’t respect anything. Second, in a concrete skatepark even small amounts of litter can look significant against the light gray expanse of geometric forms. Finally, and most important, small bits of trash can introduce grave safety hazards for the unsuspecting skateboarder.

Convenient trash can placement can mean the difference between a tidy park and a trash heap.

Every skatepark, intended or not, has an area where most of the park users go to rest and watch the action. This will be the place where they leave their backpacks, water bottles, cell phones, and other personal items. This is often not the place where well-meaning park planners had hoped to attract idle skaters. Regular visits by park-maintenance staff should reveal where people are actually resting. It should become apparent after a few months of the park opening. This is where trash cans, shade structures, and seating should be placed if possible.

The waste containers should be as convenient as possible to use, placed naturally at every access point and at each resting station. Open-topped designs, or those with a covered top but without a spring hatch, will get the most use as skaters can easily toss their waste into the can as they skate by. (Trash cans requiring greater interaction will result in more plastic bottles being left around and on the can.)

Wind can carry litter, sand, pollen, and leaves from other areas and blow them into the skatepark where it becomes trapped against the block-like structures or in the bowls. Within the park, a ledge along the windward side of the site can help alleviate this problem, though landscaping can also redirect or trap debris before it can present a safety concern.