Police eye off-road violations

Glenn Wallace

That noisy ATV in the Santa Ynez riverbed might be joined soon by the sound of police sirens.

Lompoc police, in partnership with the city Parks and Recreation Department, are preparing to ask the state for $176,000 to help enforce rules opposing the use of off-highway vehicles (OHVs) along the city’s bicycle/foot paths and in the riverbed.

The grant request is one of several items on the agenda for today’s 7 p.m. Lompoc City Council meeting.
According to police, they have received “scores of complaints yearly regarding people driving off-highway vehicles” on city streets, recreational paths and open land in and adjacent to the riverbed.

Police Chief Tim Dabney, who wrote the staff report asking for City Council approval of the grant request, said basic trespassing laws, as well as a 2008 Santa Barbara County ordinance against OHV usage, has been violated by local off-roaders.

“Some of the property is private, and some of it is owned by the city,” Dabney said.

Pedestrian safety has also become an issue, according to Dabney, with bicyclists and walkers reporting close calls with passing dirt bikes and ATVs.

Currently, the Lompoc Police Department has limited staff available to patrol the trails and river banks of the Santa Ynez River, and no vehicle capable of pursuing a rogue OHV that headed off-road.

The grant funding, if given by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, could change that.

The grant proposal, if accepted, would add two park rangers and two police officers to the monitoring effort, an additional 2,160 staff hours. A new four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle would also be purchased with $17,000 of the grant.

The terms of the grant would require a 25 percent match from the city. Dabney said the grant should not impact the general fund, as “in-kind” matching is allowed, meaning personnel and equipment that the city already has could be used to count toward the program cost.

If successful, Dabney said, his department would like to apply for the grant on an annual basis.

Other items on tonight’s agenda include a recommendation to award a $171,000 contract for work on a water treatment plant pipe, and a recommendation to approve an environmental impact report on replacing a pedestrian bridge over San Miguelito Creek, and the passage of an ordinance to increase the amount of contracts the City Administrator can award.

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Source: http://www.lompocrecord.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_8c2a9c06-4139-11df-bc65-001cc4c03286.html

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