Column: Serious disconnect over OHV ordinance

Phil Klasky

You had to be there to witness the disconnect.

One after another, Morongo Basin residents testified before the Board of Supervisors requesting protection from large stagings of off-road vehicles that result in excessive noise, dust and nuisance and trespass on our private and public lands.

Community leaders told the supervisors that the staging element of Ordinance 3973 is an essential tool to protect our homes and property. But the fix was in and Supervisors Mitzelfelt and Derry voted to weaken the law even when Supervisor Gonzales expressed her opposition to leaving desert residents defenseless against large groups of rogue riders.

The supervisors ignored suggestions by code enforcement to keep controls on staging while making the permit process cheaper and easier.

At the last Joshua Tree MAC meeting an overwhelming majority expressed their opposition to weakening the law. The change in the ordinance now allows for as many as 199 people to assemble on a parcel of land as small as 2.5 acres to ride six days out of every 30.

If you think that dozens of ORVs are going to stay on their 2.5 acres, you have another think coming; right across your private property.

If you want protection from ORV trespass and nuisance from groups of riders, a code enforcement officer or sheriff’s deputy has to be present to observe the violation.

Despite extensive testimony about harassment, hate speech and cyberstalking by a fringe group of off-roaders, the supervisors failed to address these problems.

Did you know that the county is now proposing to build an ORV park in Twentynine Palms? It is important that you report each and every violation by ORVs and document your experiences on our Web site.

We need to restore the law in our communities and defend our private property rights, public health and quality of life from special interests.

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Source: http://www.hidesertstar.com/articles/2010/04/14/the_desert_trail/editorial/doc4bc64e9ad5332411157025.txt

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