Fountain Valley, CA Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Banned area
- Civic center, bounded by Slater Avenue and Los Alamos Street
- Banned equipment
- Skateboards, rollerskates and rollerblades
- City duty
- Must post the property with warning signs
- Court rule
- No skateboards on park courts, § 12.08.100(a)
- Penalty
- Misdemeanor: fine up to $500, jail up to 6 months, or both
- Adopted
- Ordinance 1280, 1998
Summary
In the City of Fountain Valley, California, no one can ride or propel a skateboard, or use rollerskates or rollerblades, in the civic center, the area bounded on the north by Slater Avenue and on the east by Los Alamos Street. The City Council adopted the ban in 1998 and requires the city to post warning signs.
No person shall ride or otherwise propel a skateboard or use rollerskates or rollerblades in the area known as the "civic center." For the purposes of this section, the civic center shall be defined to mean that area bounded on the north by Slater Avenue, to the east by Los Alamos Street, and to the west and south by the city's property boundary line. The city shall post the property appropriately to warn persons that such activity is prohibited.
Full Breakdown
Fountain Valley Municipal Code § 12.08.065 is a location-specific rule, not a citywide skateboard ban. It sits in Chapter 12.08, Park and Recreational Facilities, and it covers one defined area: the civic center. The code fixes that area as the land bounded on the north by Slater Avenue, on the east by Los Alamos Street, and on the west and south by the city's property boundary line. Inside those lines, no person shall ride or otherwise propel a skateboard, and the same prohibition reaches rollerskates and rollerblades.
The section puts a duty on the city as well as on riders. The city shall post the property appropriately to warn persons that the activity is prohibited, so the civic center is meant to carry visible signs, and that sign requirement is part of the ordinance text itself.
A second, narrower rule applies inside the city's parks. Under § 12.08.100(a), no person shall ride or use a bicycle, skateboard or roller skates upon any tennis, handball, basketball, shuffleboard or multipurpose court. That is a court-surface restriction: it protects the courts themselves rather than closing a whole park to skating. Section 12.08.030 defines "park" for the chapter as all recreational and other public land owned, operated, managed or controlled by the City of Fountain Valley, including buildings, parking lots and improvements on that land.
The City Council enacted the civic center ban as Ordinance 1280 in 1998, and it has stayed in the code since. Because the section sits in Chapter 12.08, the chapter's shared penalty clause, § 12.08.180, is the enforcement provision. The code section names no permit route for skating in the civic center, so the prohibition stands as written for the whole bounded area.
Violations & Fines
A violation of § 12.08.065 falls under § 12.08.180, the penalty clause for all of Chapter 12.08. Any person violating the chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction, faces a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, imprisonment in the County Jail for up to six months, or both the fine and the jail term. The same clause covers the court-surface rule in § 12.08.100(a).
Frequently Asked Questions
Where exactly is the civic center where skateboarding is banned in Fountain Valley?
Are rollerblades and rollerskates covered as well as skateboards?
Can I skateboard on the basketball or tennis courts in a Fountain Valley park?
What is the penalty for skating in the civic center?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fountain Valley
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