Buena Vista losing patience with ATV delay

Joseph P. Smith

BUENA VISTA -- A push for new rules on owning and riding all-terrain vehicles and other off-road rides still is finding conditions slow and bumpy in Trenton.

Buena Vista is among rural communities that want the kind of crackdown proposed legislation would bring on issues like under-18 drivers, registration, insurance and fines for outlaw riders that chew up public and private property.

In November 2007, the township revised its ordinance to allow state police to impound ATVs in cases involving violations of regulations on public property.

Earlier this week, the Township Committee voted 5-0 to again petition the legislature, the state Department of Environmental Protection and Gov. Jon S. Corzine to act.

Mayor Chuck Chiarello, who still hopes for something to get done later this year, also criticized an amendment made in May to the ATV legislation.

The amendment links the bill to another bill, which also is related to ATV use and requires the DEP to designate one site, in either a state park or forest, where off-road vehicles can be ridden.

The linkage means the first bill can't take effect until the second bill becomes law, too.

"Under the budget crisis right now, it doesn't sound like a practical strategy," Chiarello said.

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-1, who represents the township, sought the amendment and defended the move.

"This is a tax-and-fee issue for me," Van Drew said. "This state has been taxed, tolled and fee-ed to death.

"Philosophically, I agree there should be a responsibility for these vehicles and that owners should register them," he said. "But I also believe the registration fees should be used for the purpose intended, and we have a history in this state of diverting fees and using them for anything but the original purposes."

Van Drew ticked off decisions to divert money collected specifically for programs like buying body armor for law enforcement, the unemployment insurance fund and training emergency medical technicians.

"So before I'm going to tax or fee people, I want to make sure it goes for the purposes intended," Van Drew said.

Van Drew said Pennsylvania does make ATV riders register, but it also provides for trails. "Without a place for them to ride, illegal ridership is going to continue," he said.

State police based here enforce the township's ordinance on all-terrain vehicle use. They also cover Folsom, Weymouth, Estell Manor and Corbin City.

State police Lt. Joseph Shanahan, commander of the Buena barracks, attended Monday night's committee meeting and said complaints about ATVs are up sharply in 2009.

The barracks handled 22 complaints in 2008 versus 47 so far this year. There are no statistics broken down to the township level, he said.

"I look at the whole area we have responsibility for and basically the issues are the same for all of them," Shanahan said before the meeting.

"Our experience here is, for the most part, it's local riders," Shanahan said. "You don't have anyplace to run, so you use these pits. Unfortunately, most of the time you are on private property."

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Source: http://www.thedailyjournal.com/article/20090801/NEWS01/908010312/1002/rss

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites