Off-road outlaws trigger proposal

Rick Neale

Off-road outlaws rip down "No Trespassing" signs, dig unauthorized mud pits on private property, and race down rural roads drunk, pestering homeowners in northern Brevard County.

These brazen daredevils, though a minority of the riders, triggered a proposed ATV-prohibition ordinance that alarmed hundreds of law-abiding riders and landowners across the Space Coast.

If enacted, residents of unincorporated parcels measuring at least 5 acres would have to register with the sheriff's office, pay $25 fees and carry $100,000 in liability insurance before allowing non-family ATV riders on their land.

But the idea was a clunker. The ordinance ran out of gas and stalled -- with no votes cast -- during Tuesday's Brevard County Commission meeting.

"If one time I had my friends bring their ATVs over with their kids, you're saying I'm going to have to spend 25 bucks? That's not right," complained Bill Taylor, who owns eight acres of land in West Cocoa.

Instead, Commissioner Trudie Infantini will head up a new task force studying how to combat lawless four-wheelers, dirt bikes, monster trucks, swamp buggies and hovercraft.

Task force members will be announced at a future date. Infantini said she wants committee membership to include sheriff's personnel, vehicle dealers, off-road club officers, homeowners and riders.

County Attorney Scott Knox said sheriff's deputies have reported "repeated instances of ad hoc ATV parks popping up on weekends," particularly near hotspots like Canaveral Groves and the Interstate 95 exit near Scottsmoor.

That rankles Canaveral Groves resident Bettyjean Van Blarcom, who said motorized hoodlums screech tires at night, scatter trash and race on roadways every weekend.

"They've ruined the value of my home. I can't sell it. I have no peace
and quiet. They're ruining the quality of my life," Van Blarcom said.

Increasing complaints triggered meetings with sheriff's officials, Knox and Commissioner Robin Fisher, who owns two ATVs and represents north Brevard.

Sheriff's Lt. Mike Matthias defended the proposed ordinance. He said deputies in the woods can rarely tell where property boundaries begin and end, so they cannot charge trespassers.

"If the property is not currently posted, and we cannot get ahold of the property owner to sign an affidavit to deal with the issue, there is very little we can do at that point," Matthias said.

Fisher said The Miami Corp., which wants to develop the sprawling Farmton Tree Farm northwest of Scottsmoor, might designate land for a future public ATV park.

That is welcome news to James Rollyson, a Canaveral Groves resident whose two sons ride with him. Lobbying for abolishment of the "shortsighted" ordinance," he asked the county to establish a public off-road park instead.

"It is a revenue stream. It won't be like an equestrian center at Wickham Park," Rollyson said.

More than 60 people -- nearly all of whom opposed the ATV regulations -- signed up to speak during Tuesday's commission meeting. This included a small contingent from the Apollo Motorcycle Club of Titusville.

Rural homeowners reported similar problems in 2005 when reckless riders -- many from out-of-county -- posed a dangerous nuisance at "The Flats" off Sarno Road Extension west of Melbourne. A sheriff's crackdown ensued.

In 2004, Palm Bay officials adopted a zero-tolerance policy for riders at The Compound, an undeveloped 4.5-mile off-road Mecca along the city's northwest borders.

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Source: http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20091007/NEWS01/910070328/1006

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