CARLSBAD — After examining the possibility of expanding or moving the city’s only skate park, council voted April 22 to delay decision until it can determine what will be done with a recently approved public works facility on the same property.

A first-responders training facility is also scheduled to be built nearby, but should not impact the skate park, city officials said.

The council considered approving more than $400,000 for the expansion of the skate park, but with a possible need to move it in as little as two years, it didn’t make economic sense, city officials added.

Last month, council approved the joint-use training facility for both police and firefighters. Plans call for the facility to be built near the current skate park and the public safety center offices located on the city-owned property on Orion Way. The facility, offering a 50-foot training tower, several mock buildings that firefighters could use for drills, and a 23,250-square-foot police shooting range, should be ready for use by 2011.

Council also approved hiring a project architect to put together final plans based on the results of workshops held in 2006 and 2007. A conceptual plan was presented to council last fall.

Skip Hammann, special projects director for the city, said the training facility should not have any impact on the original skate park. However, he said the public works center might have an impact.

Hammann said not only may the public works center need the space for vehicle parking, but the issue of compatibility in the area is also a factor.

Members of the skating community are worried that the city’s only skate park may be closed to make room for the public works facility before another is opened. Two alternative sites were given for moving the park, one at Calaveras Hills Community Park and one at Hosp Grove. Both sites would be in the northern part of Carlsbad, not far from where the current park is located.

Mayor Bud Lewis suggested that a proposed skate facility at the new Alga Norte Park, in the southern part of Carlsbad, could accommodate the skaters. However, that park is not scheduled to open until 2010 or 2011.

Councilman Mark Packard said he thought the proposed skate facility at Alga Norte Park was too far south for some residents and that the city could support having another at Calaveras Hills Community Park. In addition, he said he had just spent the day planting 200 trees in Hosp Grove as part of its 100-year celebration, and did not feel that the passive-use park would be a good place to put a skateboarding facility.

After some discussion, council decided to postpone making any decision and wait to see if the timing on the opening of Alga Norte Park will coincide with a need to move the existing skate park to make way for the training facility.

The police and fire training facility is estimated to cost $24.5 million, but plans to lease the facility to neighboring police and fire departments could help recoup some costs.

Hammann said plans for the public works facility are a few years behind the training facility.