Decatur, GA Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

City Code § 98-12 defines skateboards, roller skates, coasters and in-line skates and designates a "pedestrian preference area" listing 15 specific downtown streets and segments, including Church Street between East Maple Street and Commerce Drive, East Court Square, Swanton Way, and West and East Ponce de Leon Avenue between named cross streets. Subsection (b) makes it unlawful to operate any of these devices on any public street, sidewalk, path, streetscape or driveway adjacent to a public street within that pedestrian preference area, or in any municipally owned parking lot adjacent to a public street there, with exceptions only for the portion of the multi-modal path reserved for pedestrians or cyclists and for streets set aside as play streets by city ordinance.

Subsection (c) extends the same ban to privately owned parking lots adjacent to a public street in the pedestrian preference area if the lot is open to the public for parking, whether free or paid, unless the rider has the property owner's express written permission. Outside the pedestrian preference area, § 98-12(d) through (f) impose citywide rules: no person may hold onto a moving automobile while skating, no rider may interfere with the natural progress of automobiles when on a street, and no rider may interfere with the natural progress of pedestrians when on a sidewalk.

Subsection (g) places the duty on parents and guardians not to authorize or knowingly permit a child or ward to violate the section. The section carries forward from Code of 1967, § 14-18, and was amended by Ord. No. O-10-04 on May 3, 2010.