Backyard ramps are now ILLEGAL in SLC

[paul]

The Salt Lake Valley Board of Health adopted an amendment (Regulation # 21, section 4.5.21) on August 7 2008 making it illegal to:

4.5.21. Sporting Ramps. No person shall build or use nor shall any person cause, allow,
or permit anyone to build or allow anyone to use any skateboard, roller blade,
bicycle, or snowboard ramp or half-pipe or similar configuration within 800 feet
of a dwelling, except within facilities that have been designated for such use by a
government entity.

This makes it illegal for you to build or use a ramp at your house.
What is unfortunate it that it's done under the guise of a noise ordinance. In other words, you can jackhammer, tune your Harley, or whatever all day, but you can't skate or bike on a ramp at all weather it makes noise or not. Note that there's not a clear definition of ramp which means that pump tracks, jumps, starting gates, or any other ramp type thing could easily fall under this regulation. Good thing the local government is helping save us from ourselves.

Here's a link to a group that has an online petition. I would recommend calling and writing to your elected officials also as that will carry a lot more weight. I would also recommend that you let your local bike shops know about this because it has the potential to affect their income. I live in Summit county, and things like this annoy me enough that I can easily keep my business up there to avoid adding tax revenue to a government agency that apparently doesn't have much to do.

We should go nuts on this.

http://www.slcminiramp.com

[bnd]

Thanks for the link Paul.

What's next, taking down your basketball standard? I had a pretty decent 1/4 setup in my backyard when I first moved into my house. Alot of people in here sessioned it. Just another way of Gov'ment getting into our lives.

I'm on that petition.

b.

[paul]

That's Salt Lake COUNTY by the way, so it potentially affects a lot of people.

[greg]

This is a copy of the email I sent to various government officials reguarding this issue:

Dear sirs,
I am gravely concerned about the new ordinance that bans sporting ramps within 800ft of a dwelling in Salt Lake County. By passing this ordinance, you have effectively made it illegal for my 8 year old son to use his plastic ramp to jump his BMX bike in our driveway. These ramps are available at any number of retail outlets such as Toy R us, Sports Chalet, Kmart, etc. They can range from a small 12 inch high (approx.) to 24 inch high ramp constructed of plastic and sometimes metal frames. This is just one example of how this ill-advised ordinance infringes upon our freedoms, and how recklessly it was conceived and executed. On one hand, it is widely held that our population is growing more and more sedentary, then on the other hand when a segment of our population finds a physical activity that promotes a healthy lifestyle, government agencies pass an ordinance to restrict it. This just smacks of over-regulation and pre-conceived notions of the culture that is skateboarding, BMX, and action sports in general. There are already ordinances in place that restrict noise levels. There is absolutely no reason to single out an activity to unjustly limit our citizens in the pursuit of such activity in regards to noise levels. If ANY activity exceeds the set noise limits, then by all means the laws should be enforced. If there are no infractions of the noise limits, then there is no reason to ban it. I am well aware of the “nuisance” levels that many will cite as reasons for this ban (as apposed to strictly noise levels), but in my opinion this “cause” should be VERY carefully researched and a consensus reached by a large group of the population in various population densities throughout the county because it is so ambiguous and is based solely on an individuals perception rather than facts. To pass such an ordinance based on so few individuals input gives rise to the concern that the health department is neglecting its responsibilities and over-stepping its boundaries to merely sooth a few boisterous individuals in a very limited area of the community. In summation, this ordinance is ill-conceived from the start, impacts far more then intended, noise level ordinances are already in place that could be used to regulate excessively loud activities, and was not based on any real study of the impact of these activities in various areas of the county. This ordinance should be removed.

Because of so much backlash this ordinance is receiving, the Salt Lake Valley Health Department board will consider suspending its ban on backyard skate ramps next week, buying time for interested parties to reach a permanent resolution by next spring.
The meeting is Oct. 2 at 7:30 a.m. in Room 2003 of the north building of the County Government Center, 2001 S. State. While a vote is scheduled, there is no public hearing.

While this meeting is not designated as a public hearing, it is open to the public. There will be no open forum to voice oppinions in other words, but the public is welcome to attend. I plan on attending this meeting and encourage all of the BMX community to do likewise to show its solidarity with other action sports to overturn this rediculous ban on ALL ramps (not just halfpipes for skateboards).

What the rule says:
"No person shall build or use -- nor shall any person cause, allow or permit anyone to build or allow anyone to use -- any skateboard, Rollerblade, bicycle, or snowboard ramp or half-pipe or similar configuration within 800 feet of a dwelling, except within facilities that have been designated for such use by a government entity."