Letter: ATV riders, respect property rights

Written by Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman

Thursday, May 27, 2010

I never thought anything like this would happen to someone I know. I am from Texas, and I noticed when I moved here that people don’t make fences to delineate their property lines. I have always thought good boundaries make good relationships — personal boundaries as well as property boundaries.

“Good fences make good neighbors.”

Well, my friend is selling her house. She was so happy when they built it a couple months ago. She is selling because an ATV rider has threatened to “do something” to their house if they do not stop blocking the area of their property that the ATV rider uses as his personal private road. He has harassed them to the point that he threatened them in person, face to face.

The police “can’t do anything about it,” which I find ludicrous. This is domestic terrorism. I don’t understand how this can happen. I don’t understand why someone who makes terroristic threats is not jailed. At least stop them from trespassing and destroying private property.

I know that there are ATV riders who do not violate private property rights, and these type of offenders give those who ride lawfully a bad name and will eventually cause someone to get hurt. Are the police waiting until someone gets shot? What is the deal here? Are we supposed to just submit and leave? What can people do when this happens?

I knew a family who lost their teenage son when they lived in California because he continued to violate the private property rights of a neighbor by riding his dirt bike on their property. After numerous warnings and complaints, the property owners put up barbed wire. Admittedly, they should have put red streamers on the wire to warn the kid, or at least that is what I would have done. They did not. The kid hit the wire, the tangled up bike caught fire and he was burned and disfigured so badly that he later killed himself. Is this what our local government is waiting for?

You know, with Palmer seeking expansion to its city limits, this practice will probably be outlawed, as it is in the current city limits. I truly doubt it will be enforced in that case either. When is this going to stop? I have never lived any place with more public trails, bike trails, walking places, etc. Why allow people to ride on private property with no recourse for the owner?

Kathy McCown
Palmer

Source: http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2010/05/27/opinion/letters/doc4bff34bfa625b790554105.txt

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“Once they chased our cow into a deep arroyo where it fell and broke its neck. I don't understand how anyone could think chasing livestock is fun.” As a result of the growing conflicts with off-roaders, the Gonzales family stopped their cattle ranching. It doesn't matter whether it is a plate or decal, what is important is that the identification is visible. The police could have tracked down the illegal riders if we had been able to photograph the IDs on their vehicles. I think that would have made them think twice before breaking the law.”

- Eleanor Gonzales, private property owner in Santé Fe County, NM