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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.

E-mail Robert Spahr:

RSpahr@pressofac.com

10 comments:

• LouToti (33) posts 8:38 pm

  Fred, no similarities what-so-ever other than both towns having Egg Harbor in their name and you being at thee meetings as you did in Buena Vista, Monroe and Little Egg. The bigger question I have for you is how many TREE FROGS have YOU KILLED driving back and forth to all those town meetings? You do know they like crossing blacktop roads in the evenings during the summer months. Oh no another 500o+ tree frogs just died tonight! Way to go Sir Fred, slayer of harmless tree frogs. LOL!

• cincrft1 (31) posts 11:59 am

  Fred, here you go again. Can you not stay on the subject at hand? We are not talking about the EHT PAL spot and like you said it was 10 years ago. Why are you redirecting the attention again. Fear Mongers - Well buddy let me tell you this - riding is beneficial to those of us that just so happen to enjoy this sport. Retaliation tickets from the police department - come on, you can do better then that can't you. Fred all you are doing is spreading "hear Say" that is not admissible nor is it acceptable. Both sides of this issue need to "Work Together despite our diffenences". Or are you going to spitefully continue your little war that you are creating here. As the old saying goes - if you can't beat em, join em. Fred we are not going away and giving up.

• FredAkers (11) posts 9:35 am

  It is fact, not fiction that NJDEP and EHT PAL failed to sell the big regional ORV Park that would have brought thousands of outsiders and their ORV machines into EHT almost 10 years ago. The town council gave the proposal very serious consideration, and heard comments from all sides over a time period of about 2 years. The applicant there was not a dealership shell organization from out of town, like the one in LEHT this time -- it was the town’s own Police Athletic League. Like in LEHT, the fear mongers were out in force trying to frighten the locals away and blowing lots of smoke about how beneficial ORV riding is. I was there, and I recall that the town citizens were even afraid of getting retaliation tickets from the EHT Police for objecting to their PAL proposal. The PAL application was seriously misrepresented by the applicant, like the AOHVA application is; intensive motorized recreation was not an approved use in the zone (which would have required a zoning variance or Master Plan change) like in LEHT; no environmental reviews were produced to prove site suitability or need for mitigation, same as in LEHT; no one was tricked by the so called multiuse claims that other recreation would be compatible with an ORV Park, same as in LEHT. The local residents opposed to the Betsy Scull park organized and put a lawyer to work questioning the misrepresentations in the proposal, Atlantic County was against it because the applicant used 500 acres of county land as part of their proposal without even asking the county, and the hunters, horseback riders, and adjoining golf course users that were already enjoying the quiet use of the areas involved were all against it. So after judiciously weighing all of the positives and negatives, the EHT governing body decided that the site was not suitable and the use was not inherently beneficial and told the EHT PAL no. Ultimately, NJDEP was forced to cancel the grant. It is important for LEHT to know this story, as the outcome of the Betsy Scull proposal is a historic precedent that can inform their decision about the similar set of circumstances in LEHT today.

• SnoDrtRider (7) posts 8:16 pm

  Fred, I wish there was a better way to put this but sometimes the simplest way without beating around the bush is best... YOU ARE A BONE HEAD.

• LouToti (33) posts 7:22 am

  Fred Akers, is the problem! The state purchased the Sahara Sands property for an Off-Road park and Fred fought it when he found tree frogs to the property! Everyone in South Jersey has tree frogs on their property! And most of us have other threatened and endangered things in our yards. The Betsy Scull was another property that would have been perfect for an off-road park, but again Fred fought it and what do the people of Egg Harbor have now? GOLF COURSES that use FERTILIZER and HERBICIDES to keep their greens GREEN and WEED FREE! What happens to all the stuff that goes on to the fairways? IT GOES INTO THE WATER! NICE JOB FRED, thanks for protecting our water supply.

• cincrft1 (31) posts 12:55 am

  Fred, why can you not just stick to the discussion at hand we are dealing with now. Your so called information is outdated and does not apply here. This article is not about the EHT PAL and what monies that they have received. You are the poster child that is milking us taxpayers by side stepping the issues and making statements and comments about the ATV folks that is not true and I for one am not afraid to tell you that I have had enough. Meetings after meetings just go on and on and how much money is being wasted? I wonder what part you had in stopping the 1000 acre park from becoming a reality just like you did for the Monroe Twp location. You call this park an UNNECESSARY ORV Park - are you kidding me. Get me the plunger so that I can get your head out of your butt so that you can see that there is a need for a legal park. You say that the solution for this is ordinances and law enforcement against illegal riding and not rewarding us with a park. Well Fred, in case you are not aware of this there are already laws and regulations concerning ORV in the State of NJ. Enforcement is another story. Why can you not become a team player and work with us and help to come up with a "REAL" solution. If you really are against atv's I suggest that you not ride yours either. Is yours insured and registered? Have you taken the safty course and do you wear safty gear when your riding through the woods taking you pictures and collecting little samples? This is a serious issue and we do not have time to waste playing little games Fred. I understand your concerns about the environment like most people are but we need to learn to get along.If you can not be part of the solution then you will remain a part of the problem and we WILL continue our fight for justice and equal use of the land that does belong to ALL of us......

• FredAkers (11) posts 10:34 pm

  Given the big flow of public money for these questionable ORV Park proposals approved by NJDEP and the Recreational Trails Council, bringing up the EHT PAL is most appropriate. EHT PAL has had a 30 acre site at Ridge Avenue in EHT for many years now, and they are the poster child of how to milk the Motorized Recreational Trails money out of NJDEP. EHT PAL Ready to Ride Program Ridge Ave. had a representative on the NJDEP Recreational Trails Council, and received from NJDEP $83,643 in 1996, $25,000 in 2001, $143,750 in 2003, and $50,000 in 2004, for a grand total of $302,393. All for a 30 acre ORV Park, but this was not enough. Starting in 1999, EHT PAL applied for 3 grants from the NJDEP Motorized Recreational Trails Program totaling almost $500,000 to create a 1000 acre ORV Park in the Betsy Scull area of EHT. One of the justifications for this big ORV Park project was to reduce illegal riding in EHT, as the smaller 30 acre ORV Park was supposedly not enough. NJDEP gave EHT PAL over $186,000 to purchase 92 acres to start the project, but the project planning was so fatally flawed and corrupt, and the objections by the people of the town and local area were so extensive, that the EHT elected officials denied the project, even though they had resolved to support it in 1999, before it even got to the Zoning Board process. EHT PAL then tried to sell the 92 acre parcel for a 10 unit subdivision development, but in the end sold the parcel back to NJDEP and Atlantic County for passive open space for $460,000, netting EHT PAL a tidy profit for their efforts. If the 30 acre PAL ORV Park in EHT is really eliminating all illegal ORV riding in EHT, why did the EHT PAL try and fail to create an unnecessary 1,000 acre ORV Park? The real solution here is for ordinances and law enforcement against illegal riding, not rewarding illegal riding by creating ORV Parks in environmental sacrifice zones.

• Informed (4) posts 9:31 am

  These topics always call for harsher punishment regarding ATV use but in reality the rules are already as tough as they get. Basically there is NOWHERE legally to ride in this state. People end up being outlaws as soon as they get on an ATV. This is unfair to completely abolish a sport that brings happiness and meaning to so many people's lives. We need to find a way for all parties involved to be happy. ATV's have been around since I was a kid and have never been looked at seriously as a recreation that deserves attention from the state. As a rider and a father of future ATV enthusiasts please help find us a park.

• LouToti (33) posts 8:45 am

  All these towns need to wake-up and take a lesson from what the Atlantic County Egg Harbor Township PAL accomplished with their Ready-To-Ride ATV and Dirt Bike Program http://www.ehtpal.com/ready_to_ride.htm This program eliminated illegal ATV and Dirt Bike use in their township and was a win win for everyone. Unfortunately this ordinance is only going to put an additional burden on law enforcement who really should be fighting real crime instead of locking up kids who are out enjoying nature. Whey maybe these municipalities should really think about supporting the Monroe Sahara Sands gravel pit that the state bought for such an ATV park?

• cincrft1 (31) posts 8:37 am

  Councilman Eckhardt, Maybe you should look into helping to get a legal place to ride so that this would not happen. Why waste time introducing an ordinance when the state already has laws regarding ATV's and dirt bikes. There are always a few people that will mess it up for the rest of us that are tying to do things the legal way.

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