Skateland

After more than three years of contention, the problem of dealing with noisy, troublesome crowds of young people leaving the Skateland roller rink in Towson on Saturday nights has moved to a new level -- legislation.County Councilman Douglas B. Riley, a Towson Republican, has introduced a bill that would require all roller rinks in Baltimore County to be licensed and give the county director of permits and licenses the power to shut down a rink without notice in an "emergency."The county has three roller rinks but has only experienced problems at the Towson rink.

The operator of a Parkville-area skating rink has agreed not to host club-themed events, reaching a deal with Baltimore County officials following complaints about crowds of rowdy teens disturbing the neighborhood after leaving the rink late at night. Lawyers for the county and Skateland Putty Hill announced the agreement at an administrative hearing Monday. Skateland will be allowed to hold events with "Mommy and Me" and Zumba themes, as well as children's birthday parties and gatherings for schools, churches and recreation councils.

It is 7:20 on a Saturday night, 10 minutes before opening at the Skateland roller rink in Towson.The front door to Skateland swings open and 10 older male teens stride through the hallway. They leap over a 3-foot-high wall and elbow their way to the front of the line. Several of the older teens look back with an in-your-face smirk at 14-year-old Vernon Spriggs.Young Spriggs and his three male friends have been patiently waiting in line for the admission window to open for nearly a half-hour.

Baltimore County officials have ordered a Parkville-area roller-skating rink to cancel an Aug. 16 club-themed event after complaints about crowds of teenagers disturbing residents and businesses as they leave the rink at closing time. This week, the county Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections sent a letter to Skateland Putty Hill on Belair Road saying the business operated in a way that produces "excessive noise, traffic congestion, vandalism" and other activities creating a public nuisance.

Towson businesses and residents may get relief this fall from rowdy crowds that have besieged the area in recent years after leaving the Skateland roller rink.Baltimore County police and the owners of Skateland are hoping new hours, more officers and zero tolerance for trouble will alleviate community concerns when the skating season begins Friday."We're not going to tolerate any nonsense," said police Maj. Johnny C. Whitehead, commander of the Towson Precinct.But several store owners and neighbors said they are taking a wait-and-see attitude about the new measures.

BLAMING SKATELAND for Monday night's high-speed car crash into a Carney bar would be unfair. But mere mention of the roller rink in the Loch Raven-Baynesville community produces groans from residents and business owners, and with good reason. Skateland needs to review its security policies, and tighten where necessary to help prevent these kinds of problems. For years, Skateland has attracted packs of teen-agers to its Friday night public skating sessions. Youths up to age 19 can skate until about 12:30 a.m. After closing, they flood the parking lot and nearby streets.

Inside a nondescript building in the corner of a strip mall tucked off Joppa Road in Towson, the hip-hop music is thumping on Friday nights, the lights are low and the teenagers are showing off their moves. They just happen to be doing their socializing on wheels, roller-skating in endless circles around the floor at Skateland Orchard, where the decades-old pastime has attracted a new generation of fans. The 23-year-old roller rink draws about 300 skaters on a typical Friday, when it is open until after midnight and attracts the most young people.

For a decade, residents and business owners near the Skateland roller rink in Towson have complained about unruly crowds that besiege the area after closing time. The rink operators responded by changing their operating hours, installing a metal detector to scan for weapons and, most recently, hiring off-duty police officers to guard the door and patrol the parking lot. "It just seems as though they had it in hand," said Sgt. Wayne Howard of the Baltimore County Police Department's Towson Precinct.

The problem of rowdy youths near a Towson roller rink was aired yesterday before the Baltimore County Council, which is considering a bill to license such establishments."

As reported Oct. 29, 1989, in The Howard Sun: The price tag on the Columbia Association's proposed sports complex has been set at $6.4 million, and residents so far have agreed that the high cost of recreation is quite acceptable. In what for months came down to a minor controversy over whether the new facility would feature a roller rink or a pool, Columbia representatives are offering a simple solution: have both - along with several other luxury options. The plan proposed by Columbia Association management calls for purchasing the Skateland roller-skating rink and a renovation of the Supreme Court athletic facility.

Skateworks, the roller rink in Woodlawn that has long struggled with allegations of violence and rowdiness, has closed. The business, which opened two years ago in an industrial park off Whitehead Road, is tied up in bankruptcy proceedings, with more than $575,000 in debt, and linked to accusations that a 12-year-old girl was gang-raped there Aug. 14. The closure follows the revocation of Skateworks' two operating licenses, a result of the arrests...

As reported Oct. 29, 1989, in The Howard Sun: The price tag on the Columbia Association's proposed sports complex has been set at $6.4 million, and residents so far have agreed that the high cost of recreation is quite acceptable. In what for months came down to a minor controversy over whether the new facility would feature a roller rink or a pool, Columbia representatives are offering a simple solution: have both - along with several other luxury options. The plan proposed by Columbia Association management calls for purchasing the Skateland roller-skating rink and a renovation of the Supreme Court athletic facility.

Inside a nondescript building in the corner of a strip mall tucked off Joppa Road in Towson, the hip-hop music is thumping on Friday nights, the lights are low and the teenagers are showing off their moves. They just happen to be doing their socializing on wheels, roller-skating in endless circles around the floor at Skateland Orchard, where the decades-old pastime has attracted a new generation of fans. The 23-year-old roller rink draws about 300 skaters on a typical Friday, when it is open until after midnight and attracts the most young people.

Call it the Roller Derby in Randallstown. A group of 40 community organizations around the Liberty Road corridor is opposing a Baltimore County woman's plans to open a skating rink on Liberty Road. The organizations, known as the Liberty Road Community Council, met last week and voted to oppose the skating rink proposed by Karen Donaldson. Donaldson, a 34-year-old resident of the Milford Mill neighborhood, works with special-needs children at Kennedy Krieger Institute and has said she wants to provide a recreational outlet for Randallstown teen-agers.

BLAMING SKATELAND for Monday night's high-speed car crash into a Carney bar would be unfair. But mere mention of the roller rink in the Loch Raven-Baynesville community produces groans from residents and business owners, and with good reason. Skateland needs to review its security policies, and tighten where necessary to help prevent these kinds of problems. For years, Skateland has attracted packs of teen-agers to its Friday night public skating sessions. Youths up to age 19 can skate until about 12:30 a.m. After closing, they flood the parking lot and nearby streets.

For a decade, residents and business owners near the Skateland roller rink in Towson have complained about unruly crowds that besiege the area after closing time. The rink operators responded by changing their operating hours, installing a metal detector to scan for weapons and, most recently, hiring off-duty police officers to guard the door and patrol the parking lot. "It just seems as though they had it in hand," said Sgt. Wayne Howard of the Baltimore County Police Department's Towson Precinct.

About 500 rowdy, combative teen-agers who drew 25 Baltimore County police cars to Towson's Skateland roller rink March 11 helped persuade County Councilman Douglas B. Riley to renew his campaign to license roller rinks.Mr. Riley's bill, introduced at Monday night's council meeting, would give police the power to summarily close any rink deemed "so inimical to public health, safety and general welfare as to constitute a nuisance or immediate danger." Three rinks would be licensed and regulated, but problems have occurred only at Skateland on Orchard Tree Lane, near Joppa Road, where crowds of noisy teens have prompted complaints for years.

The Columbia Council last night authorized the Columbia Association to issue up to $10 million in bonds to pay for capital projects and to do it soon while interest rates are favorable.The council also stipulated that the interest rate for the bond issue be 7.5 percent or less.The association sold $5 million in bonds at 8.8 percent interest in fiscal 1993. Interest rates for bond issues during the 1980s ranged from 11 percent to 18.6 percent.The council also voted down a proposal asking the association to prepare a budget option for next year that reflects a 1.5-cent reduction in the association's annual property charge of 73 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Towson businesses and residents may get relief this fall from rowdy crowds that have besieged the area in recent years after leaving the Skateland roller rink.Baltimore County police and the owners of Skateland are hoping new hours, more officers and zero tolerance for trouble will alleviate community concerns when the skating season begins Friday."We're not going to tolerate any nonsense," said police Maj. Johnny C. Whitehead, commander of the Towson Precinct.But several store owners and neighbors said they are taking a wait-and-see attitude about the new measures.

The Baltimore County Council narrowly approved last night a controversial bill requiring the licensing of roller-skating rinks.The seven-member council also repealed a 6-month-old hazardous waste disclosure law.The roller-rink bill was approved 4-3. Though it affects all such facilities in the county, its sponsor says it is aimed at Towson Skateland, where crowds of rowdy youths leaving the facility on winter weekend nights have disturbed neighbors, forced...