Folsom Council ordinance to put brakes on ATV riders

Rob Spahr

FOLSOM - All-terrain vehicle riders could soon face tighter restrictions on where and how they ride in the borough.

The Borough Council introduced an ordinance Wednesday night that will prohibit the use of all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles and dirt bikes on public property, limited access highways and public streets.

Under the ordinance, ATV riders will be prohibited from:

"It seems like it's just getting out of hand with people riding on private property without permission and doing damage without any consideration to anyone else," Councilman George Eckhardt said.

Eckhardt said his wife was once riding a horse on one of the family's hay farms when a group of ATV riders came out of the woods and nearly knocked her off her horse.

"If she hadn't been such a good rider, she could've been thrown off and seriously hurt," Eckhardt said.

But there have been several serious ATV-related injuries in the borough in recent years, Eckhardt said.

"This (ordinance) is not only to keep the public safe," he said. "It's also to protect those who ride from themselves."

While a special ad hoc committee in neighboring Hammonton is in the processes of drafting an ordinance to regulate the use of off-road vehicles on private property, Borough Solicitor Michael Fitzgerald said Folsom's ordinance is much broader.

"This has been a common source of irritation for property owners here for many years, depending on their location," said Fitzgerald, adding the new restrictions are similar to those in effect in Buena Vista Township. "But the issue of operation of private property is not being affected here, other than by enforcing safety regulations (already in existence)."

Riders who violate the ordinance could be fined as much as $1,000 for a first offense and $2,000 for subsequent offenses. The ordinance also gives police the power to impound any vehicle being operated illegally.

"Enforcement is going to be the big thing here," Eckhardt said. "I would hope that the people who are riding improperly will be apprehended, and hopefully it will be a message to the others to be less destructive, more responsible and more respective of other people's property."

The ordinance is scheduled for public hearing and final adoption at the Borough Council's Sept. 9 meeting.

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Source: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic/article_9c272a08-0642-5262-b106-8bef88fb3722.html

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