Columbia residents and officials want to get kids on their skateboards again after the Columbia Association posted signs banning skaters from the Dorsey Hall Pool parking lot.

“Clearly the parents and the kids are not happy they can’t skateboard at the pool anymore, but everyone is focused on moving forward and finding a better place to skate,” said Brian Cuthie, a member of the Dorsey’s Search Village Board and head of a committee of parents and children examining alternatives.

The village was concerned about safety and its liability when it sought the sign from CA, Village Board Chairman Jeff Marcus said.

The ban initially was met with some hostility, but residents now are focused on how to meet the skaters’ needs, he said.

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Columbia has one skate park in Harper’s Choice, but the hours, fees, layout and location make it less than ideal for some residents, Cuthie said.

Some of these circumstances could be easily remedied, said Cuthie, whose committee is suggesting options to CA Board Member Tom O’Connor, who represents Dorsey’s Search.

The CA will work closely with residents to determine what changes can be made, such as adding or rearranging ramps, CA spokeswoman Karen Hawkins said.

“There can be some changes and it depends on the needs of the community,” she said.

In the long term, residents want a skate park in the Howard’s Centennial Park.

Howard set aside $100,000 for a skate park in the proposed fiscal 2008 capital budget, but it was axed because officials realized revenues weren’t quite as high as expected, Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks Director Gary Arthur said.

A skate park is included in the plans for a new North Laurel park, which might make it easier to advocate for skate areas in other parks, including Centennial, County Council Member Mary Kay Sigaty said.

“If we continue to ban our kids from locations around their neighborhoods, we are making our community hostile to our teenagers,” she said.

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com