The City of Calgary is considering allowing residents to set up skateboard ramps in their backyards.
Some Calgarians may be surprised to learn that a land-use bylaw in place for almost 30 years actually prohibits the use of so-called sport ramps on residential property.
On Wednesday, the city’s community and protective services committee debated amending the bylaw to allow ramps up to 1.5 metres high, five metres wide and six metres long without a permit, as they will “not visually impact neighbours.”
“The biggest thing we spoke about as we advocated for this was the noise bylaw,” Calgary Association of Skateboarding Enthusiasts chair Paul Derksen said. “You cannot do this after 10 p.m., you can’t do it before you start construction in the morning.
“It is a different noise. It is mostly laughter, but you do have ‘clickity clackity’ and that kind of thing,” Derksen added.
“You need to respect your neighbours and respect where you put it within your yard.”
The City of Calgary said it has received 17 complaints regarding residential ramps built without development permits in the last five years.
The proposed change will return to council later this month.
– With files from Doug Vaessen