ATVs churning up more than dust for local officials

Legal ATV trails aren’t handy and can be costly.

By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

NILES — Ray Heitman has lived on Summit Avenue on the city’s South Side for 21 years and is a self-admitted frustrated man.

“I’ve been frustrated for years. They come from all over the place,” Heitman said of the all-terrain vehicles that illegally speed up and down Summit and along an abandoned railroad track bed that runs along the side of his property.

“It’s noisy and dusty,” Heitman said of the nuisance. But he’s hesitant to try to stop them.

He stopped an ATV driver one day — and a car outside the back of his garage was burned the next.

“You can’t get too nasty with them,” he added.

Mary McClimans lives around the corner from Heitman on Olive Street.

“They’re up and down here all of the time,” McClimans said as she pointed to the street in front of her home. “I can’t even hear myself out here,” she added.

She is resigned to the problem.

ATVs aren’t permitted on streets. They can only cross them on the way to property where they are permitted to drive, from another property where they’re permitted.

Police ask state for help

The ATV problem has so frustrated police that Niles Chief Bruce Simeone and Chief Joseph Consiglio of adjacent Weathersfield Township are looking to the state for help.

Simeone and Consiglio met last week with state Rep. Sandra Stabile Harwood of Niles, D-65th, so she could better understand the problem and try to find a solution.

“We’re all having the same problem,” Simeone said, noting that owners bring their ATVs from other communities.

“They know we’re not going to chase them,” he added. “It’s affecting everybody. They’re running 24 hours a day.”

And some of the operators aren’t very considerate.

John Marhulik, Niles police traffic officer, recalled driving his patrol car down a street. An ATV approached from the opposite direction and stopped. The driver issued him the ultimate digital insult before doing a U-turn and fleeing.

Heitman said he received the same insult after he stopped an ATV on Summit.

Safety concerns

Simeone said the he has considered having the police department buy an ATV to catch the drivers, but said that would place two drivers in jeopardy of being injured. “It’s a bad situation all the way around,” he observed.

Consiglio echoes Simeone’s concerns. He said parents are buying ATVs for their children who run them illegally on the roads. They’re endangering themselves and bothering others with noise and dust.

“We need to figure what we can do. We’re not going to tolerate that type of activity,” Consiglio said.

His officers also don’t give chase, he added, because the ATV drivers might get injured.

Lt. Thomas Hill, commander of the Pennsylvania State Police station in New Castle, Pa., said law enforcement has a similar problem with ATVs in the Keystone State.

Hill said the vehicles are difficult to catch, although their operators can be prosecuted if a resident is able to recognize the driver and testify in court.

Issuing license plates as a solution isn’t realistic, Hill explained, because they would be small — and covered with mud so they couldn’t be identified.

It’s not just local police trying to stop ATVs.

Garrick Francis, a CSX railroad spokesman, explained that ATVs don’t necessarily cause property damage. Rather, they present a safety issue.

“Somebody will get killed,” Francis said, because a train is difficult to hear when not at a crossing with the whistle blowing.

He said that when a train isn’t at a crossing, it’s silent and fast.

Paying to ride legally

Chris Harley, owner of Ride Powersports in Boardman, sells ATVs for between $1,800 for children 6 to 11, to $10,000 for older riders.

Harley said he understands the frustration property owners have with illegal ATV riders. He wouldn’t want one ridden near his home, he said.

Pennsylvania forests are good places to ride, Harley explained. To ride in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest, an ATV owner must be registered in both Ohio and Pennsylvania, have insurance and buy a tag that costs $10 for a day or $35 for the week.

It does cost money to legally ride an ATV. For example, at Mines & Meadows ATV Riding Resort, riders have 18 miles of trails at Wampum, Pa. The cost is $600 per year per family and $400 annually for an individual.

Harley points to Hatfield-McCoy Trails in southern West Virginia, which has 500 miles of trails.

Shannon Orso, office manager for Hatfield-McCoy, said the company has its trails throughout five counties and is developing additional areas. Most of the land, she noted, is leased from large coal companies.

Economic impact

Orso said opening ATV trails has helped the local economy. Hatfield-McCoy had 23,000 visitors in 2005 and 27,000 last year. She has seen the appearance of restaurants, motels, guiding services and washing facilities for the equipment and recreational-vehicle camp sites.

A large business in the area is buying old houses, remodeling them and turning them into lodging for those riding the mountains of Appalachia.

The cost to ride is $19 per day and $79.50 annually for out-of-state riders.

Hatfield-McCoy has had a positive economic impact on the area, according to a study by Marshall University’s Center for Business and Economic Research.

The study shows that since the area was opened in 1996, retail sales have grown by 12 percent. It has created 146 jobs and payroll has increased by $104 million, or 9.5 percent.

Where to ride

Not having managed trails where they can legally drive is one of the largest issues in ATV recreation.

National forests are excellent locations to ride trails, because the trails are well-marked. A ranger is available, and these trails are safe and good for families because they don’t attract the trouble-making riders, Harley said.

ATV riding is allowed in four of Ohio’s state forests at no cost. They are: Maumee State Forest, five miles of trails; Pike State Forest, 10 miles; Perry State Forest, 16 miles; and Richland Furnace State Forest, eight miles.

Nathan Kirk, administrator of Ohio forests for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said the facilities are heavily used for recreation. In these free-to-use areas, he noted, “we have a lot of illegal riders. It’s rampant right now.”

Sandra Chiaramonte, spokeswoman for ODNR’s state parks, admits that ATV recreation is something the state hasn’t developed in its parks.

There is currently a study being done at Jefferson Lake State Park in the Steubenville area to determine if ATV trails are feasible there. The study is to determine if the soil provides the proper base and whether at least 15 miles of trails can be developed.

yovich@vindy.com