His main concerns are the number of skateboarders, the lack of brakes on the boards and the lack of parental control over their children's dangerous activities.
"No one wants to hit a kid; no one wants to be hit by a kid; and no one wants their property damaged by a kid on a skateboard," Bernstein said.
His concerns are not new.
"In the 1980s, agile and adept skateboarders were scaring little old ladies on Forest Avenue," Hopping said.
And the city responded by ticketing and fining the skateboarders.
The parents of nationally ranked skateboarder Jesse Roach were ordered to remove practice equipment from their backyard and his father's outrage helped fuel a series of heated Recreation Department meetings, said Hopping
Hopping was among the adults and youngsters who clamored against police actions, pleading with the department to legitimize their sport.
Cars sported bumper stickers proclaiming "Skateboarding is not a crime." Parents urged the city to stop making criminals of kids.
The state vehicle code permits local governments to regulate skateboarding in the streets rights-of-way, Public Works Director Steve May said.
City ordinances prohibit skateboarding in the central business district — Aster to Legion Street and Coast Highway to the Irvine Bowl; highway sidewalks; Glenneyre Street sidewalks from Forest Avenue to Calliope Street; Cliff Drive sidewalks from the highway to Beverly Drive, Main Beach Boardwalk, city parks and pretty much anywhere else the council might designate.
Not enough, in Bernstein's opinion.
"Police need a tool for enforcement," Bernstein said.
Enforcement of the proposed restrictions would be difficult and would require a map of the city with street grades listed, May said.
