City, off-road community looking for different path

Christopher Ortiz

Residents who like off-roading and the neighbors who hate the noise and traffic will hopefully soon find the middle ground.

That’s the hope of a resolution the Rio Rancho City Council passed in March that aims to resolve two issues — find a place for people to ride their motorcycles and get them out of neighbor’s back yards.

The resolution calls for the city’s park and recreation commission to work with the off-road community and come back to the council with recommendations for alternative places to ride. The commission has four months to report back to the council.

David Stokes, an avid rider and father, said this has been a long time coming. Stokes said he and others have been trying for 15 years to get a spot for kids to ride.

“I’m really tickled to death no one opposed this,” he said.

The city has said in the past having an off-road park sanctioned by the city would be too much of a liability. Stokes said the city has amenities for other sports like baseball and soccer and those come with the risk of kids getting hurt, too.

“It’s more of a liability if we have kids riding where they shouldn’t be,” Stokes said.

Currently, those who want to ride off-road vehicles find empty lots that Stokes said can be dangerous.

“Kids are having to go to the end of Southern or Northern (boulevards), littered with old fridges, pallets — it’s really unsafe,” Stokes said. “It’s where the kids are being forced to ride.”

Steve House, an avid rider and proponent of the resolution, agrees.

“There have been safety issues as of late,” Steve House said. “For the safety of the kids, we need a local organized place to ride.”

Councilwoman Kathleen Colley, who sponsored the resolution, said the issue got off the ground when a number of constituents contacted her about the issue.

The need, Colley said, is clear.

“People out here, who live on the perimeter of Enchanted Hills, are having a problem with motorbikes,” Colley said.

She said neighbors have complained about the noise from the bikes and riders who ride up against the backyard walls.

“Because of (those issues), we’re working to try to develop another venue for these folks so it’s not in others’ back yards,” she said. “(With the resolution), we are directing our parks and rec department to work with the off-road community to find a place to put a park. We need an alternative.”

She said the resolution’s goal is two-fold — help resolve noise complaints and give an alternative place to ride.

“In an ideal situation, we would have an off-road site, and say to these folks — ‘here is a location,’” she said. “We have been dealing with this for over a year. It’s getting pretty obnoxious. Riding up against someone’s house can get pretty noisy.”

One proposed location for an off-road park is in Quail Ranch, a 10,000-acre area in the southwest corner of Rio Rancho.

Right now, an off-road park is in the idea phase.

House said plans include a BMX bike layout, multiple tracks for four-wheel and two-wheel vehicles, a place for Jeep rock crawls and a track for remote-controlled vehicles.

“We have some layouts; we’ll need funding,” House said. “Parents and other interested parties are willing to donate time and resources.”

House and others are creating a nonprofit that would run any proposed facility called Rio Rancho Off-Road Motorsports Organization, RROMO.

House said off-roading is not limited to just teenagers. House, 46, said he’s been riding for 30 years and he has a 10-year-old and 15-year-old who also ride.

“It’s a family thing,” he said. “A lot of my friends and peers ride. It’s a very family orientated sport.”

House said though there is a lot of work ahead, the city and the off-road community are headed in the right direction with finding a designated place to ride.

“It’s a win-win,” House said. “Those who don’t want us in their back yards won’t have that and we’ll have a designated place to play.”

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Source: http://www.observer-online.com/articles/2010/03/28/news/doc4bad4e2396db3915239603.txt

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