City of Cohoes, NY Chapter 231 Skateboards

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Cohoes 6-25-1991 by Ord. No. 39-1991; amended in its entirety 3-28-2006 by Ord. No. 4-2006. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Parks and playgrounds — See Ch. 195.

Skate park — See Ch. 233

Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 244.

Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 266.

§ 231-1 Definitions.

For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

PEDESTRIANS

Persons on foot.

SIDEWALK

That portion of a highway designed for or ordinarily used for pedestrian traffic.

SKATEBOARD

A single platform which is mounted on wheels, which is propelled solely by human power and is designed or used in fact for riding underfoot having no mechanism or other device with which to steer or control the direction of movement thereof while being used.

§ 231-2 Riding prohibited in certain areas.

Areas in the City of Cohoes in which skateboard riding is prohibited are as follows:

A. All public and private sidewalks, roadways (including the entire paved and improved surface thereof including curbs), parking lots, driveways and courtyards within the boundaries as set forth below: That area bounded by and including both sides of Remsen Street beginning at Cayuga Plaza southerly to Columbia Street; both sides of Columbia Street easterly to the D & H Railroad; thence northerly along said D & H Railroad to New Courtland Street; thence northerly along both sides of New Courtland Street to Mohawk Street and the properties of the Cohoes Multi-Service Senior Citizen Center; also including Cayuga Plaza; McDonald Towers property; Ogden Mills property; and Canal Square.

B. All of Route 470 within the City of Cohoes (including, but not limited to, Columbia Street and Ontario Street).

C. All of Vliet Street.

D. All of Manor Avenue.

E. All of North Mohawk Street.

F. All of Saratoga Street.

G. All of Columbia Street and Mohawk Street from Bedford to Cohoes Boulevard.

H. All of Bridge Avenue.

§ 231-3 Restrictions upon use in permitted areas.

A. No person shall use or ride on a skateboard in or upon any of the areas and locations listed in § 231-2. In all other areas within the City of Cohoes, skateboard use is permitted, so long as it is not effected in a manner that creates a risk of danger to any person or property nor impedes or interferes with pedestrian or vehicular traffic.

B. Any person operating a skateboard or other toy vehicle the must yield right-of-way to any pedestrian or motor vehicle.

C. No person shall operate a skateboard on or against any City-owned table, bench, structure, tennis or basketball court, parking stop, handrails, planters, curb or gutter edges, barriers and barricades, retaining wall, fountain, statue, or other improvement which may suffer damage by such use.

D. No person shall use or place a ramp, jump, or any other device used to force a skateboard off the pavement on any portion of publicly owned properties, including but not limited to, public parks, parking lots, lands surrounding public facilities of any kind, or sidewalk.

E. It shall be unlawful to construct, erect, place or maintain a skateboard ramp on any property within the City, which ramp exceeds six feet in height.

F. It shall be unlawful to construct, erect, place or maintain a skateboard ramp on any property within the City in the front yard within 20 feet of the property lines on either side, or in the rear yard within 20 feet of any lot line.

G. It shall be unlawful to operate, use, or ride on a skateboard on private property where a sign prohibiting such use has been posted by the owner, lessee or person in charge of the property.

§ 231-3.1 Safety equipment.

A. No individual shall operate a skateboard within the City of Cohoes unless such individual is wearing a helmet meeting the requirements as set forth in New York Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1238(5a), or successor standards set by the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. For the purposes of this chapter, wearing a helmet shall mean having a properly fitted helmet fastened securely upon the head of the wearer with the helmet straps securely fastened.

B. No person shall operate a skateboard at nighttime unless he or she is wearing reflective clothing, which shall be visible from a distance of not less than 50 feet. "Reflective clothing" shall be defined, for the purposes of this chapter, as any shirt, vest, jacket or any other readily visible piece of apparel equipped with a reflective surface, such as phosphorescent tape or an equivalent reflective surface.

§ 231-4 Penalties for offenses.

A person violating this chapter is responsible for a civil infraction. The court, in its discretion, may impose the following sanctions:

A. For the first violation: a civil fine of not more than $25.

B. For a second or subsequent violation: a civil fine of not more than $50. Upon a second conviction, any skateboard that was an instrument of the violation shall be seized and forfeited to the Cohoes Police Department to be disposed of in accordance with this City Code.

C. Law enforcement officers shall also have the right to impound as evidence any skateboard that is used contrary to this chapter, pending prosecution of such alleged violation of this chapter.

D. Nothing in this chapter shall preclude enforcement of or the prosecution of violations of § 1238 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law or the imposition of fines or penalties contained in the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law or any other general law.