BELFAST – Motorcyclists cruising down sidewalks, jackasses joyriding the grade on wheeled office chairs, motorists picking roadkill out of their tire treads, and law-abiding lads toting laundry baskets on longboards.

These were a few of the images put forward in a debate Tuesday night by the City Council over what rules and penalties should apply to skateboarding downtown. 

City Manager Joe Slocum brought the issue to the table, saying he had received many more complaints since the recent repaving of many downtown city streets: "Just people walking down the street saying I'm scared to death I'm going to see someone get killed."

At issue was a proposal to expand the area of the downtown in which skateboard are banned, and possibly expand the definitions to include other wheeled devices. 

Current rules for skateboards fall under the heading of "noise and public conduct" in the city's code of ordinances. Skateboarding is prohibited in the downtown business district and carries a fine of $200-$350.

On Tuesday, discussion suggested that the law is enforced loosely, or not at all. Slocum said the amount of the fine may be high enough that it discourages police officers from issuing tickets. 

Hunter Finden of Belfast, one of three local skateboarders who attended the meeting said it was no discouragement to the officer who gave him a ticket for riding on Church Street two years ago. The ticket was for $231.

Finden, 17, said he had to ask his parents for the money to pay the fine.

The amount, he said, was way too much for a 14 or 15-year-old. Finden said he didn't know of another town that had these rules. He also noted that the newly paved streets have been a draw. 

"You can't expect kids not to skateboard downtown when you have these perfectly paved roads," he said.

Slocum noted that the current rules don't apply to scooters and other devices that are used in a similar way. He said he'd recently witnessed someone riding a scooter in a way that seemed reckless and realized that there was no law against it.

"Technically, he's cool," Slocum said. 

Someone mentioned a person riding an office chair. Later an anecdote was shared about a young man carrying a laundry basket while riding a longboard. The latter was presented as a non-threatening use of a skateboard and was favorably received.

Council Mike Hurley read several letters, one from a resident who recommended that skateboards follow the same laws as bicycles, another who confessed some envy at being too old to skateboard and suggested the city closing a block to car traffic from time to time so skateboarders could have use of the roadway.

Hurley called the law, which was put on the books in 1996, an attempt to "put the genie back in the bottle" on a trend that has grown more acceptable since then with longboards making a resurgence as a form of transportation. He said he informally interviewed some skateboarders in Camden who were "befuddled and bemused" by the idea of outlawing or levying fines against skateboarders.

Hurley suggested reckless behavior be the focus of the law, rather than skateboarding specifically. That way the law could apply to bicyclists, like one he'd seen riding full speed on an area of sidewalk lined with storefronts. He likened that case to having motorcycles driving on the sidewalks, which he thought people would recognized more readily as a hazard.

The comment sparked a conversation on what would constitute reckless behavior. Councilor Mary Mortier quizzed Hurley on several incidents she had witnessed including a pedestrian being "clipped" by a skateboarder.

"Get a license. Get a car," Mayor Walter Ash told Finden.

Finden said he uses his skateboard as transportation in the same way that a bicyclist would. "I don't know why [a skateboarder] would get a ticket if they're not harming anyone."

"This is clearly an issue where the safety of the public, including people on skateboards is at stake," said Councilor Nancy Hamilton.

Councilor Eric Sanders felt some of the complaints might arise from what he saw as the more difficult task of quickly gauging the skill of an approaching skateboarder.

Slocum said the police chief had favored the outright ban over discretionary fines.

There was some discussion about how skateboards stop. Councilors noted that boards don't have brakes. Slocum said Police Chief McFadden called stops as "controlled crashes." Finden described several ways that skateboarders stop.

"The police chief described it as a controlled crash," Slocum said, sounding agitated.

"The police chief doesn't skateboard," Finden said.

The Council tabled any action on the skateboard ordinance based on a request by Hurley to speak with Chief McFadden.

Speaking after the meeting, Evan Pinette, 25, of Belfast, challenged the perception seemingly held by a majority of the Council that skateboarders are reckless. Pinette didn't speak during the meeting, but indentified himself as the subject of someone else's anecdote — the man transporting his laundry by skateboard.

"I think most guys are in control and it's no one's intention to freak people out," he said.

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Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com