Azusa Municipal Code Art. I In General

(a) Purpose. The city council finds and declares that:

(1) The parks and recreation department has reported that the use of municipal parks and recreational facilities at night has caused undue wear and tear to such properties and will continue to present a threat to the conservation of such properties if not regulated.

(2) While state penal statutes exist which criminalize the performance of certain acts within parks, these statutes are not designed to further the legitimate public safety and welfare interests of the city in limiting the wear and tear on park properties.

(3) The park and recreational facility closure ordinance of the City of Los Angeles has been held constitutional in People v. Tratham (1984) 161 Cal. App. 3d Supp. 1, 208 Cal. Rptr. 535, and the city council does hereby explicitly adopt the interpretation of the language of such ordinance adopted by that court.

(4) This article is regulatory in nature rather than criminal, in that its purpose is to restrict and regulate the use of municipal parks and recreational areas under the purview of the city in order to confine such usage to activities compatible with the natural resources of such places, to conserve such places in their pristine state and to promote public health, safety and welfare in the usage of such places.

(b) Established. No person shall enter, remain, stay or loiter in any municipal park or recreational facility between the hours of 10:00 p.m. of one day and 5:00 a.m. of the next day. A violation of this section is an infraction.

(c) Exception. Subsection (b) shall not apply when officially sanctioned organized sports activities, or events of a civic nature, authorized by the city council or parks and recreation commission extend beyond 10:00 pm, or begin prior to 5:00 am. In the event a sanctioned event is limited to a specific building, or specific area within the park, the remainder of the park shall be deemed closed at 10:00 pm.

(d) Posting required. Any municipal park or recreational facility subject to this ordinance shall be posted with the following notice:

"Hours of Closure

This facility is closed between the hours of 10:00 pm at night and 5:00 am in the morning.

Any person entering, remaining, staying, or loitering upon these premises during hours of closure is guilty of an infraction

Ref. §50-1 (b) A.M.C."

Posting of the notice shall be made at all parking lot entrances if the facility is equipped with an off-street parking area, and upon the perimeter of the park adjoining any public street at not more than 150-foot intervals. All signs shall be not less than 17 inches wide by 22 inches in height with one-inch lettering.

(Code 1971, §§ 8.55.010, 8.55.020; Ord. No. 02-05, § 1, 4-1-02)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 2025-04, § 4, adopted July 21, 2025, repealed § 50-2, which pertained to riding animals and bicycles in parks and derived from Code 1971, § 8.52.010.

(a) Definitions. The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this section, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this subsection, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Skate facility means an area designated by ordinance, which is designated to be used exclusively for skating, in-line skating and skate-boarding, and which requires that specific safety equipment is to be used and properly worn for protection of the users. The skate facility will be posted with rules governing hours of use, the personal conduct by users or other persons in and around the facility and warnings of the consequences for failure to abide by the rules.

(b) [Memorial Park designated as a skate facility.] The fenced-in skate facility located in Memorial Park is hereby designated as a skate facility for purposes of this chapter. The skate facility shall be posted with signs stating that all persons using such area for skating, in-line skating and skateboarding, are required to wear a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads, pursuant to Callfornia Health and Safety Code Section 115800, and failure to do so is a violation of this Section and is punishable pursuant to Azusa Municipal Code Section 1-10 as an infraction.

(c) Skate facility safety regulations.

(1) The hours of operation shall be during hours of daylight only, unless amended by council resolution and properly posted at the skate facility.

(2) While using a skate facility, an individual shall comply with the posted rules governing the hours of use of the facility and safety requirements.

(3) No person shall use a skate facility for uses other than for skateboarding, in-line skating, and roller-skating.

(4) No person shall use a designated skate facility unless such person is wearing proper safety equipment as designed by the parks and recreation director to be worn for roller sports use, including a helmet, elbow pads, and kneepads. Wrist guards, shin pads, forearm pads, and gloves shall be encouraged. All wheels for skating equipment used at a skate facility shall be of a composite type of plastic or rubber. Metal wheels, or any other equipment that tends to damage the skating surface, is prohibited.

(5) No person shall ride or cause a bicycle, motorized or non-motorized scooter to be on the skating surface within the skate facility.

(6) No person shall use or possess alcoholic beverages, illegal drugs, or tobacco products in a designated skate facility.

(7) All persons using a skate facility must place trash in trash receptacles provided by the city.

(8) Use or possession of glass containers within the skate facility is prohibited.

(9) No person shall cause graffiti or tagging of a skate facility, or surrounding city property.

(10) No person shall skate, slide, or perform jumps on curbs, sidewalks, bleachers, parking areas, or any other area of the city-property surrounding a skate facility.

(11) No person shall bring or use any device, fixture, crate, wood, metal, rope, wire, or other object within the skate facility for purposes of jumping, riding upon, riding around, or riding under, excepting only those objects and fixtures that have been installed by the city for use within the skate facility.

(12) The posted rules shall state that any person failing to abide by the required safety regulations as listed in the posted rules shall be guilty of an infraction.

(d) Violation of safety regulations. Any violation of this section shall be punishable as an infraction pursuant to Azusa Municipal Code Section 1-10, with a fine of $50.00 for the first violation, $100.00 for the second violation and $250.00 for the third and any subsequent violation. In addition, any person who violates this section may be ordered to leave the skate facility and/or park by any authorized city employee. Failure to leave the skate facility or park after being ordered to do so, or returning to the skate facility the same day is a violation of this section. Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed a limitation on the city's ability to enforce other provisions of applicable law. The provisions of this section may be enforced in addition to, and not as an alternative to, such other provisions of applicable law.

(e) Suspension of skate facility privileges. Any person who causes damage to the skate facility, intimidates other users with threats of violence, or engages in any other conduct that in the opinion of the city manager or his/her designee, is detrimental or disruptive to other users of the skate facility or users of the surrounding park area, may have his or her privilege to use the skate facility suspended by the city manager or his/her designee. Any suspension of skate facility privileges shall be provided in writing, and shall state the reason for suspension, the date(s) of suspension, and provide the suspended individual with a right to appeal the suspension to the parks and recreation director. The decision of the parks and recreation director may be appealed to the parks and recreation commission whose decision shall be the final administrative decision of the city.

(f) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the parks and recreation director from requiring users of a skate facility to register with the parks and recreation department prior to use of the skate facility. The registration may require that any person under the age of 18 provide the name, address, and telephone number of a parent or guardian, and require a consent form for a minor to use the skate facility. In the event the user is 18 years of age or older, the parks and recreation director may require a photo identification from the individual as a pre-requisite to use of the skate facility. The parks and recreation director may also require that skate facility users be issued a photo identification as proof of registration.

(Ord. No. 02-07, § 1, 6-3-02)

Editor's note— It should be noted that section 2 of Ord. No. 02-07 provides, "Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 115800, the city, through its parks and recreation director, shall maintain a record of all known or reported injuries incurred by a skateboarder in any city owned or operated skate facility. The city shall also, through its park and recreation director, maintain a record of all claims, paid and not paid, including any lawsuits and their results, arising from those incidents that were filed against the city. Copies of these records shall be filed annually, no later than January 30 each year, with the Judicial Council of Callfornia."