Almost 200 members of the community attended a neighborhood meeting Sept. 25, with a majority arguing that the tennis courts are inappropriate for skating for a variety of reasons.

"No way in hell do I want a skatepark 57 yards from my window," said neighbor Chuck Easley. The sounds of skateboarding, combined with noise from the tennis courts and the nearby Little League field "is like an amusement park in my backyard," Easley said.

Another neighbor, Dale Workman, reminded staff that when Blossom Hill Park first opened, the ball field was in limited use, but now it's become a year-round field and is a burden for the neighborhood. Workman also said the residents can hear the skateboarders out on the pavement around the park. A skatepark would add to that noise, Workman said.

"This isn't a good spot. We don't want something temporary. We want something that's there until the town decides to bulldoze it down," said a young skateboarder. The youth said skateparks on tennis courts are rarely used, citing Campbell's skatepark as one that's empty most of the time.

"If we desperately needed another Little League field, you wouldn't build it on top of a soccer field. You don't take something from one group and give it to another group," Kaye Little said.

"This is a very unworkable plan for tennis players," Marianne Cohn said. According to Cohn, the six public courts at Blossom Hill Park are used much of the time. The next closest public courts, Cohn said, are in Cupertino, where the city has set aside 15 courts for community use.

Los Gatos Town Manager Debra Figone opened up the meeting with an explanation of the town's proposal. A permanent skatepark is still in the works, with the town and the county in discussions for a land swap. The swap would give the town ownership of the site within Vasona Park that it has proposed to use for a skatepark, while the county would take control of a town-owned parcel nearby.

"We are in the process of pursuing that avenue. But, as we all know, things take time," Figone said. In the meantime, town officials hope to find a place for teens to skate and to test the viability of a skatepark. Figone said the temporary park could last 18 months to two years.

An ad hoc subcommittee had identified more than 20 possible sites for the skatepark. Those choices were narrowed down to three: Blossom Hill Park and two spots at Fisher Middle School. One of the Fisher sites was too long and narrow for skating, while the other was "ideal," Figone said, but would not be available for the next few years because of the school's construction. As a result, Blossom Hill Park became the top choice.

Skatepark consultant Bruce Playle, from Indigo/Hammond & Playle Architects, showed on a map that the proposed two courts are in the northwest corner of the fenced-off area. Those were identified as being the farthest away from homes and the closest to Blossom Hill School, Playle said.

The cost of a skatepark at Blossom Hill would be significantly less than the $350,000 estimated for a permanent skatepark, since Blossom Hill already has the paved tennis courts. But Figone admitted that the costs are unknown. "We haven't gone very deep in our analysis because we wanted to come to you," she told the community. "This is democracy in action."

"This is how we do things in a community. We come together when there are issues before us," added Councilman Steve Glickman. Glickman, along with Councilman Joe Pirzynski, two Los Gatos parks commissioners and three town staff members, make up the subcommittee.

Pirzynski said that while he is not a tennis player, he used to be and could see the different sides of the argument. "It's our job as council to balance the values the community sees," Pirzynski said.

Los Gatan Lee Fagot, however, faulted the proposal for pitting the values of the tennis community and the skateboarders against each other. Fagot said the two types of athletes should not have to be on opposing sides, and the skateboarders have been categorized as troublemakers simply because they do not have a place to skate.

"Our teens are at risk by skateboarding in the fashion that we've forced them to," Fagot said.

"These guys have long hair; they have ratty clothes; they're obnoxious," said Los Gatan Jim Doss. "But they're just good kids who want to skate." Doss and his wife had just returned from a trip to Oregon, where they had taken several skateboarders and visited several skateparks. Doss said that although the tennis courts are not the perfect site, the idea should not be dismissed without additional research.

One neighbor said skateparks are usually located near freeways, schools or mixed-use commercial developments. "I would say you put a teen sport where the teens are," she said.

Some of the speakers offered up suggestions for an alternate site. Monte Sereno resident Kyle Lanza mentioned the Miles Avenue town-owned parking lot, while Sue Anawalt, also from Monte Sereno, brought up the little-known Pageant Grounds, behind the police department and town hall. Someone else proposed having an indoor park using an empty industrial building, similar to the Vans skatepark in Milpitas.

Neighbor Melinda Nehemiah reminded the group that the Los Gatos United Methodist Church opens up its facilities as a skatepark several times a week, while Calvary Church has a skateboarding program.

Los Gatan Lauren Honda, mother of a skateboarder, said she thought Pageant Grounds would be a good idea. Honda also said she was "stunned" by the rudeness of the public, with the adults in the audience interrupting each other and town staff's presentations.

Ryan Terrill, a Los Gatos High School senior, agreed. Terrill pointed out that all of the uncivilized behavior had been caused by the adults, while the skateboarders were sitting quietly in the corner.

While Terrill agreed that the courts at Blossom Hill are fully utilized, he said the sport represents a certain sector of the community, just as skateboarding caters to a specific population in Los Gatos. But with the availability of tennis courts in town and no skateparks at all, "tennis is infinitely more represented than skateboarding," Terrill said.

According to Figone, the next step is for the subcommittee to meet and decide what to do with the Blossom Hill Park proposal. Figone promised to keep the community informed about future meetings and ideas.