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A San Diego neighborhood is outraged after their communal BMX track was leveled by the city on Wednesday, September 22.
The track was a hotspot in the neighborhood where kids would go after school.
“I mean they would work together, all the kids after school were out here,” one neighbor Allison Leedom told FOX5. “They were playing, they were problem solving, they were being kids.”
The track was first created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kids and parents in the area decided to transform a vacant dir lot into a dirt bike track for the entire neighborhood to enjoy.
Dozens of kids in the area would use the track nearly every day.
“They loved it in an era and a time when so many kids are not out and sitting in front of a screen,” said Leedom. “And during COVID, they could only be outside. We encouraged it.”
But their track was destroyed when a bulldozer showed up and leveled it.
“I was devastated,” said Leedom. “My kids are devastated, the neighborhood is devastated. The fact that this could happen is absolutely absurd.”
According to an email sent out by the neighborhood association, the city issued a violation notice to have track leveled because the lot is "100% conserved and not to be disturbed."
To have a dirt bike course the vacant lot would need to be legally developed with a permit.
However, neighbors don't believe the city would approve a permit for the track.
Although the parents understand, it's been hard to break the news to the kids.