Casselberry Downtown & How Skateboarding Would Spur Growth

Currently the conventional wisdom around the Casselberry City Hall complex is to disallow skateboarding.

This policy is due to poor planning policy and a disconnect with the community at large.

Skateboarding continues to grow as a sport and lifestyle within the younger generation that Casselberry seeks to entice into calling the city home.

While all of the current development in the "Downtown District" is geared towards transient (rental) residents, the hope is to have them fall in love with Casselberry and put down roots when they're ready to purchase.

The seeds of change have been sown with the growing art component the city is supporting via the Casselberry Art House and the installations of art rotating through City Hall, but beyond that, there is little that distinguishes us from any other suburban community along 17/92.

The expansion of the park space around City Hall will include a "passive use" park that is set to be the home of more benches and sculptures.

Planning that would inspire the renaissance that is being sought should at minimum include benches and sculpture that would allow and encourage skateboarding in the public space.  By its very designation, true public space is welcoming to everyone.

If the City of Casselberry is serious about providing planning that will sustain it into the future, it should start including skateboarding in its pathways and parks plans.

To better understand, take a look at how skateboarders have influenced planning and the success it achieved in Philadelphia.

 Its time for Casselberry to embrace the future.  A future that will be filled with young families that want to put down roots in an inclusive and hip city, one that welcomes skateboarding.

Art In Casselberry & Why Skateboarding Fits

Casselberry has worked over the years to develop its identity as a center for art and artists in Seminole County. 

Its a big part of the transformation of the city to gain a positive image moving forward and cast aside a checkered past that to this day is mentioned in articles that chronicle the positive growth that is happening.

A growing grassroots movement to bring a skatepark to Casselberry is afoot in the community and if embraced it could help further the ongoing effort to create a stronger art community here.

This TEDx Talk will help you to understand the link between the art community and skateboarding if you haven't already come to know its true.

Think of the possibilities a vibrant skate community would bring to our city.  Dream of the inspired youth that will fill it and further the change we all seek.

 

Get Ready For Casselberry Parks Master Plan Process - Skatepark Support Needed

 A consultant is about to be hired by The City of Casselberry to help develop a Parks Master Plan. Part of the work that will take place will be a survey of citizens to learn more about what is needed & wanted to better serve the community's recreation needs.

For the past year we've been advocating for a Casselberry Skatepark on behalf of our supporters at no cost to the city. Despite the signs in yards across our community, TV coverage & a front page story in the Orlando Sentinel, we have yet to be heard clearly. That is about to change.

As soon as we hear the survey has been released, we'll spread the word to ensure you, the grassroots supporters of a better more inclusive Casselberry know about it.

When Public Workshops are scheduled, we will make sure to spread the word. We will need you all to join us there to raise our voices together to be heard loud and clear; We the People of Casselberry Support a Skatepark!

Our time is near. We will succeed. We wont be stopped.

Keep sharing this petition. Send your own emails to the Casselberry City Commission. Talk to neighbors and family. Keep building the grassroots to ensure we see positive growth for our kids and provide them a safe and inviting space to call home.

Thanks for all you've done so far! Even though City Hall has been slow to react, your voices are being heard all across Central Florida. Keep up the great work.

Share the coverage that News 13 just aired on every social media platform you can. Teamwork makes the dream work!

Click the Link for Full Story:

 News 13 Story

By: Jeff Allen - Seminole County Reporter

CASSELBERRY -- 

Skate parks across Central Florida are a popular place for teenagers to hang out.

In Casselberry, however, the push to get a skate park is dragging on. The city has hired a consultant to create a parks plan that could take up to 6 months to complete.

Danny Miles says if skateboarding has taught him anything, it’s the importance of persistence.

“I’ve tried for hours to land one specific trick,” said Miles. “That’s the thing; if we fail we get up and do it again.”

Miles says he’s just as determined to get a skate park built in Casselberry. He says skaters in every community need somewhere nearby where they can stay busy perfecting their skateboarding moves, and stay out of trouble.

“Your friends are saying let’s go do this, and you say no I was trying this trick yesterday and I really want to go get it today,” said Miles.

“That mindset of wanting to progress has kept me out of trouble.”

The group pushing for a skate park has gotten a lot of support on social media.  The group also has received permission from residents across Casselberry to place yard signs on their properties that signal support for their effort.  

We first told you about the push for a skate park in Casselberry back in March 2015.

Casselberry’s city manager says the consultant is asking residents what they would like to see included in the city parks system, but there are no definite plans to build one right now.

Danny says he’ll continue to join others in the push to get a skate park built, even if they don’t get it on the first try.

“As skaters we’re not afraid to fail. That’s why with this skate park we’re going to keep pushing, keep pushing to have it made,” said Miles.

What about noise from a Casselberry Skatepark?

One of the potential sites for a Casselberry Skatepark is Secret Lake Park.

Secret Lake Park scores very high when skatepark site selection criteria are objectively applied.

How would a skatepark fit within the existing active uses that are already there?

You be the judge:

An overwhelming level of support continues to endorse the construction of a skatepark in Casselberry.

Ultimately, the City of Casselberry will determine where it is built. 

We hope that established criteria is used to make that choice.

Casselberry - A Great Place to Live, Work & Skate

The City of Casselberry branding is currently lost on skateboarders.  Despite the self described "Live, Work & Play" welcoming community image that is being promoted, the fact remains, most parks specifically prohibit skating and recreation spending is focused on events, art and passive spaces.

We've asked our City Commission to reach out to places like Zephyrhills, Lakeland, Gainesville, Branford or Jacksonville Beach to get current feedback from recreation departments on how skateparks have benefited their recreation programming.

We know that one of Florida's oldest public skateparks, Satellite Beach is getting a makeover as the staff there continue to recognize after over 20 years of service, its one of the jewels in their crown.

Listening to others can be of benefit when you don't have direct experience in the subject matter.

Best Recreation Value Available

 We'll continue to be supportive of all other recreational offerings in our diverse town, but we wont take no for an answer for our skatepark either.  We too want a community where we can Live, Work and Play.  The time to make sure our community is inclusive is now.

Casselberry Skatepark Planning

As we continue to advocate for the Casselberry Skatepark, we're starting to hear from a few vocal individuals that are against it, judging skaters based on archaic stereotypes.  Their outlook is shocking to see in today's society.

Its our hope that they will take the time to learn more about skateboarding and join us in welcoming skaters to Casselberry's public spaces.

Casselberry holds itself out as "A Great Place To Live, Work & Play" so we expect to see support from our City Commission & City Staff.

All of our kids deserve to have a safe & welcoming place in the community where they live.

Sign By Clicking Here  

If you haven't done so already,  sign our petition.  When you do, the Casselberry City Commission will be notified of it via email.  Make sure to include a comment when you do!

What To Expect As Casselberry Skatepark Campaign Moves Forward

As the Casselberry Skatepark builds momentum it wont be long before some members of the community will stand up and oppose its construction.

We've already seen a small group of opponents attend the last meeting.

Luckily, their concerns are often simply a fear of the unknown and a symptom of being misinformed.


One of the first "roadblocks" will surely be that a skatepark will be too noisy, so be prepared to hear it and have the facts available to respond.

Sound studies have been conducted many times & they have demonstrated that the noise generated at a skatepark is similar to that of basketball courts and playgrounds.

The City of Portland has studied noise produced at parks.

Together, we're going to make sure the Casselberry Skatepark is built.  Keep contacting City Commissioners to ensure that they know we're awaiting their attention on it to ensure Casselberry is truly a community where everyone can Work, Live & Play.

Recreation For Everyone

A Skatepark Will Benefit Casselberry & Build Community Pride

The Casselberry City Commission has a very limited view of skateparks.  Most of them have not spent time visiting one to learn more about them.  Once they do, they'll all quickly learn how the skatepark will help create a positive family venue that will inspire community pride and deliver a recognizable landmark to help build identity for our city.

Events like the Shred Presidents Day event in Cocoa Beach clearly demonstrate how the skatepark brings together the community in a positive and enriching way.

Its hard to deny the positive aspects of having a well built, properly located community skatepark.

SKATE 32707 will continue to push forward until we see a skatepark built in Casselberry.

Delays will not deter us, they will only serve to strengthen our resolve and become more determined to have the voice of the People of Casselberry heard.

State of The Casselberry Skatepark - 2016

March is here; for a year now we've been asking our elected officials on the Casselberry City Commission to dedicate the land and funding required to make the Casselberry Skatepark a reality for our community.

Its been a rewarding journey so far.  The level of community support continues to grow daily as folks recognize the benefits of how a skatepark will create a place to further revitalize Casselberry's image in a positive way, provide a safe place for our youth, build a sense of community and attract visitors from around the state and nation.

After originally sending an email to all of the Casselberry City Commissioners asking for their consideration for a skatepark, we attended the very next Commission Meeting and asked again in person.

Though we got silence from some, a couple of the Commissioners voiced an interest, if there was community support.

That meeting marked the beginning of our journey.  SKATE 32707 was immediately born to develop a grassroots campaign to empower our elected officials to dedicate a site and funding to get our community a skatepark.

Soon after starting our grassroots advocacy efforts, Brighthouse News Channel 13 covered our story on TV.

Not long after that first City Commission Meeting, we were told "the wheels are turning" as the upcoming 2016 Budget Workshop was approaching and the Casselberry Skatepark would be discussed as part of it.

The Omnipresent Casselberry Skatepark Support Yard Sign

When we asked about the Workshop and how discussions relating to the Casselberry Skatepark  had gone, we didn't get an answer from our City Commission.  Rather, the City Manager addressed the question and let us know that he had discouraged its discussion due to the absence of a skatepark in the City of Casselberry Parks Master Plan.

In the following days, we learned that there was no Parks Master Plan, only a draft document that was created in 2005 and never acted upon by the City Commission.

Despite the disappointing news, we simply redoubled our efforts and remained focused on building additional support within the community as well as reaching out individually to our City Commissioners to let them know we were counting on them to be our voice.

"Support A Skatepark In Casselberry" yard signs sprang up in front of residences all over the city as well as nearby neighborhoods, petitions were signed and emails continued to pour in letting our representatives on the Casselberry City Commission know we want them to take action by studying and ultimately approving a skatepark site and funding.

In light of the absence of the Parks Master Plan, plans were laid to create one.  The process was said to be set to start in October 2015 with the arrival of the new fiscal year.  October came and went with no action.  We continued to attend City Commission Meetings to update our representatives on the growing support we had documented.
 
In late 2015, in response to a request from Mayor Glancy, SKATE 32707 developed a Skatepark Master Plan for Casselberry and presented it to her, as well as the balance of the City Commission in order to catalyze the Casselberry Skatepark from simply being a discussion, to get it moving as a project.

In December 2015 a Commission Workshop was held to discuss plans for 2016 and to set priorities for projects.  Mayor Glancy and Commissioner Meadows acknowledged the support for the Casselberry Skatepark, pointing out the vast support that was easily seen by all of the signs in our neighborhoods, as well as the swelling petition numbers.  With the Skatepark Master Plan Proposal in hand they proposed city staff study the issue and report back on feasibility.  The City Manager again interjected himself and steered the issue back inside the Parks Master Plan process, stating that it would be starting in February 2016.  The balance of the City Commission went along with the City Manager delaying progress on the Casselberry Skatepark.

Despite the setback, we simply resolved to work harder to deliver the Casselberry Skatepark to our community.

In late January SKATE 32707 hosted a Skatepark Informational Meeting at the Casselberry Police Department.  Three weeks prior to the meeting we invited the entire City Commission to attend.  The purpose of the meeting was to inform everyone how the process of designing and building a skatepark works in a community once approval has been given. Commissioner Meadows responded to the invitation letting us know he would be unable to attend due to being out of town on vacation.  On the Monday prior to the meeting, Commissioner Hufford expressed concern about possible "Sunshine Law" violations if the Commission attended while attending the City Commission Meeting.  The City Attorney rendered an opinion regarding attendance that lead to her choosing to not attend.

The following day, the Orlando Sentinel ran a front page story covering the efforts that have been made to bring a skatepark to Casselberry.

The meeting was a huge success.  Attendance was such that we ran out of seating, with many standing, lining the room, to listen to the presentation from Team Pain Skateparks.

During the presentation we examined a lot of possible locations within Casselberry's existing parks that could easily accommodate a skatepark.

Galactic G Skate Shop, Plus Skate Shop, Catalyst and Domain Premium Apparel helped support SKATE 32707 by donating a lot of awesome product that was given away as part of a door prize raffle at the end of the evening.

At the first February City Commission Meeting,   the City Manager acknowledged the Parks Master Plan had not started, citing contract problems.

A request for proposals to conduct a process to develop a Casselberry Parks Master Plan was posted in Mid-February.

The consultant for the Parks Master Plan wont be selected until late April or May.  The process will then take 6 months to complete.

The consequences that have arisen from the delay in the Parks Master Plan process now directly affects the Casselberry Skatepark.

1. The Casselberry Skatepark will miss the Budget Planning Workshop for 2017

2. The Casselberry Skatepark would begin planning after the Parks Master Plan is adopted, (earliest is late 2016) likely leaving too little time to effectively do so prior to the Budget Planning Workshop for 2018.

All of this could change with a simple vote by the Casselberry City Commission.  They know the Casselberry Skatepark is a popular project with wide support.  Its time for them to make it happen sooner by directing the City Manager to have staff conduct a skatepark feasibility study while the Parks Master Plan is being completed.

As we watch the Casselberry City Commission conduct the business of the People of Casselberry, we'll be noting who has been listening.