Newark, OH Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

Section 412.06 sits in the Traffic Code adopted by the Newark City Council in Licking County, Ohio. Division (a) defines a skateboard broadly: any vehicle or device that is basically a board or platform on wheels or rollers, powered by gravity, muscle power or mechanical or motorized means, and not equipped with a positive, mechanical means of steering. That wording reaches motorized boards as well as push-powered ones.

Division (b) is the district rule. No one can ride a skateboard on a sidewalk located in a B-1 Limited Business District, B-2 Neighborhood Business District, B-3 Central Business District, B-4 General Business District, M-1 Light Manufacturing District or M-2 General Manufacturing District. The ban is tied to the zoning district of the sidewalk, so the Zoning Map decides where it applies.

Division (c) covers parks. Riding a skateboard in a park or recreation area of the City is prohibited except in an area the Superintendent of Parks and Recreation has designated for the exclusive use of skateboarders. Those areas must be marked by signs stating that the area is for the exclusive use of skateboard users and that the skaters skate at their own risk.

Division (d) sets the speed rule. No one can operate a skateboard faster than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions then existing, and any speed above fifteen miles per hour is prima-facie unreasonable and imprudent.

A neighboring section, 412.04(a), separately bars anyone riding a coaster, roller skates, sled, toy vehicle or other similar device from going upon any roadway except while crossing a street on a crosswalk, and it exempts streets set aside as play streets.