Kalamazoo, MI Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

Section 33-22, added in 1988 and amended in 2001, singles out skateboards, roller skates, scooters, and similar contrivances for location-based restrictions rather than a citywide ban. Subsection A bars their use on any state trunk line highway or designated major street established under Michigan's Public Act 51 of 1951 (MCLA § 247.651 et seq.), and in any publicly owned or operated parking lot or ramp. Bronson Park and its adjacent sidewalks get an absolute ban under Subsection A(3): no skateboards, rollerblades, roller skates, scooters, or bicycles at any time, with a narrow carve-out letting sworn Department of Public Safety officers ride bicycles there on duty; everyone else must walk a bicycle through.

A defined downtown zone, bounded by Water, Park, Lovell, and Pitcher Streets, is off-limits to these devices except between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and between noon and 7:00 a.m. on weekends and holidays. Where use is permitted, riders must not impede pedestrian or vehicle traffic and must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians on sidewalks and walkways, and no one may ride a device towed by a vehicle, bicycle, or pedal-powered contrivance anywhere in the City. Section 33-21 clarifies that the chapter's references to the old Department of Public Works now mean the Department of Public Services.