ATV park may not roll in Monroe

Jessica Beym

State officials say they haven't ruled out the idea of opening a legal, off-road vehicle park on property that New Jersey owns in Monroe Township, but land elsewhere in South Jersey is looking more viable.

Opening at least one state-run park for all-terrain vehicles, or ATVs, is on the state Department of Environmental Protection's to-do list, now that a long-discussed bill requiring it has become law.

The bill, which former Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed just before leaving office, requires ATVs, snowmobiles and dirt bikes to be registered, licensed and insured. The measure also increases the fees for registration and the penalties for illegal riding.

But the legislation, which municipal and conservation groups have been encouraging for about a decade, stipulates that those fees won't be fully imposed until DEP designates the first of three state-owned sites where ATVs can be legally ridden.

Within three years DEP must name three sites, one each in the northern, central and southern parts of the state. If the sites cannot be identified, the increased fees will no longer be imposed and the DEP commissioner will have to explain to the governor why it could not be done, according to the bill.

A tract of more than 200 acres in the Pinelands of Monroe Township has been discussed as a potential site since DEP bought the property in 2005 for $1.2 million.

The proposal drew criticism from residents whose properties border the site. Municipal meetings were held in Monroe, where more than 200 residents came out on one particular evening, voicing fears of too much noise, pollutants from exhaust, dust disturbances and riders partying on the streets.

John Flynn, of the DEP's Green Acres program, said this week that the Pinelands property still could be an option. Flynn initially led the efforts to locate the park there.

"We have never closed the door on the possibility of having the park down on the Monroe Township site," Flynn said. However, "We have met a lot of resistance there."

Monroe Township Councilman Frank Caligiuri, whose ward includes the DEP land, said when this topic was at its peak that DEP had agreed to submit a planning board application for the park if it progressed to that point, even though it wasn't required to do so.

"My objective in obtaining a commitment from the NJDEP to subject their plan to local scrutiny was to make sure that the local residents and ATV enthusiasts could have a forum to reach a consensus Ð if a consensus can be reached," Caligiuri said in an e-mail.

But DEP has since turned to other options that may be more likely, Flynn said. After unsuccessful progress in Monroe, the state took a different approach in discussing the possibility of a park in Little Egg Harbor Township in Ocean County.

"We worked with a not-for-profit organization that was made up of different off-highway vehicle enthusiasts," Flynn said.

The best approach to securing the sites, he said, would be to have the state finance the purchase of land (if it does not already own it), then finance the construction of the park. The non-profit agency would be in charge of designing the park and running it, Flynn said.

While there is opposition even in Little Egg Harbor, there seems to be a large riding community that supports the idea of a park, Flynn noted.

"There are a lot of people who do want to ride legally, and there are just very few places for them to do it," he said.

Because of damage to private and public lands throughout the state by illegal ATV use, the Pinelands Preservation Alliance has been a longtime supporter of the legislation and has helped to organize municipal support for the law, said Jaclyn Rhoads, director for conservation policy at the alliance.

"It is feasible (for DEP to create a park) if they take the necessary steps in order to do it," Rhoads said. "And that means having an open process, which they didn't have in the Monroe site."

Rhoads suggested that DEP first should find the municipalities that would support a park, then work with the environmental and residential groups to make sure their concerns are met.

"We consider this to be a development process," Rhoads said. "I think everyone will benefit greatly from it."

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Source: http://www.nj.com/gloucester/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1264236925291540.xml&coll=8

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