Vernon may set a new long board standard

Prior to their summer break, Prince Rupert City Council weighed in on the increasing number of near misses between long boarders and local residents whether in a car, or walking on the sidewalks of the city.

During the July 8th session of Council, Councillor Anna Ashely called attention to the public safety issue, with council discussing possible options to bring attention to the problem.  You can review those council discussions from the City's video archive for July 9th, the conversation runs from 43 minutes to the 50 minute mark.

While they've been away from the office through parts of July and into August, there has been some work done on the issue, however it's work being done in other communities. With Vernon, seemingly suffering the same problem as Prince Rupert, threatening to start fining the long boarders for violations of city bylaws.

The concerns over the lack of care and attention come after incidents and near misses, that have city council's in the province fearful of a growing line at emergency wards.

Prince Rupert City Council returns to a public session of Council on August 19th, should the long board discussion come up again, they can make use of some background from this CBC report highlighting the situation from Vernon.

The path towards enforcing any by-laws could be a tough one however.

In Victoria skate board enthusiasts are pushing for changes to local laws there to allow for a return for downtown skateboarding and an end to the current practice of the seizure of the boards.