OCEANSIDE -- The City Council at its Wednesday meeting will consider building small skate parks at Melba Bishop Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Park and a vacant property near the airport.

A debate about where to build skate parks ignited earlier this year. Skateboarders have requested more places to skate, and many Oceanside residents have said they don't want the facilities near their homes because they bring trash, noise and vandalism to the neighborhood.

The city staff held three public meetings during the fall and summer to hear residents' comments about possible skate facilities at Alamosa, Melba Bishop, Buccaneer, Capistrano, Martin Luther King Jr. and Tyson Street parks and land off Foussat Road near the city airport.

Oceanside has small skate parks at John Landes and Libby Lake parks and plans to build a large facility on a portion of the 465-acre, city-owned El Corazon property in central Oceanside when that property is developed in the next 15 years.

But many skateboarders have complained about a lack of facilities since the city closed a popular temporary skate park last October to make way for development across from the beach at the corner of Pier View Way and Myers Street.

"We are in dire need of skate parks," Councilwoman Shari Mackin said. "I support building skate parks."

After hearing comments from residents and skateboarders, the city staff recommended Oceanside develop skate parks in the next 18 months at Martin Luther King Jr. and Melba Bishop parks. The city won't have cost estimates for the parks until designs are complete, but $500,000 is budgeted for skate parks this year.

In addition, the staffers recommended building a skate park in the next two to three years at a 1-acre site at Alex Road and Foussat Road. Environmental studies are needed before a skate park could be developed at the site near the San Luis Rey River.

The staffers report also recommends the city refurbish the existing skate parks in the next two to three years.

Councilmen Rocky Chavez and Jack Feller said the two current skate parks are not well-maintained and often are covered in graffiti and trash.

"The one thing that is going to be critical to me is the care and maintenance of the parks if we build anything," Feller said. "I have to be convinced they will be better taken care of than the existing parks. I would love to have one as long as they take care of it."

Feller said skateboarders need to do a better job of policing themselves.

Chavez said any skate park the city builds needs to be monitored so there are no problems. The city has decided if it wants to pay employees to oversee the parks, and it's a budget decision, Chavez said.

"There needs to be oversight at the park," Chavez said, who added that new skate parks would probably upset residents living nearby.

Residents who live near the former downtown skate park near the beach said the facility led to increased noise, vandalism and trash.

Residents near Buccaneer, Tyson Street and Capistrano parks have expressed the most opposition to skate facilities in their neighborhoods. The city report states that the three sites have been taken off the list of possible locations at this time.

Skateboarders have said they want to have a park along the coast or downtown because many of them live in the area.

Feller and Chavez said they didn't think a skate park near the beach or downtown was necessary.

"It doesn't fit in with the character of the beach," Chavez said. "If they want to be by the beach, they can go surfing."

The meeting begins at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Oceanside City Hall, 300 North Coast Highway.

Contact staff writer David Sterrrett at (760) 901-4067 or nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.