Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Village looks at curbing ATV use

T.S. Last El Defensor Chieftain General Manager,tslast@dchieftain.com

The Village of Magdalena is looking into tightening restrictions on off-highway motor vehicles — possibly going so far as to keep them off the streets.

At its regular meeting Monday night, the Magdalena Board of Trustees discussed adopting an ordinance that would provide stricter standards than covered by state statutes under the Uniform Traffic Code. The matter was ultimately tabled to allow time for Clerk-Treasurer Rita Broaddus to investigate whether the Village could amend the traffic code with modifications to certain sections.

The statute defines off-highway motor vehicles as all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles and snowmobiles.

Mayor James Wolfe said he felt the state statute "had a couple of real glitches," one of them being that it only restricts use on paved roads. That presents a problem because most of the streets in Magdalena are not paved.

"The way the statute is written, they can ride down unpaved roads and alleyways," he said. "Right now it's legal to ride down sidewalks and unpaved roads. That has too many potential problems."

Wolfe said he'd like to see the law changed to include all streets in Magdalena.

Audience member Diane Allen of Magdalena told the board that she's seen people on ATVs speeding down streets and running through stop signs. She feared there would be a serious accident if the issue was not addressed.

Marshal Larry Cearley said his office has had trouble dealing with ATVs — usually driven by kids — in the past. And because of the way the statute is written, it's a hard law to enforce on the streets of Magdalena.

"We can't catch them and when we do, we can't make it stick," he said.

Cearley and trustee Jack Fairweather brought up the idea of adopting an ordinance that would ban use of off-highway motor vehicles on streets within the village limits.

The board considered the notion, mentioning that some citizens use ATVs to get around town — making short trips to the store or post office.

The matter of how to go about supplanting the statute with a more restrictive law was discussed. Fairweather asked if passing an ordinance that would amend the Uniform Traffic Code was the way to go about it, and Broaddus said she'd have to investigate the matter.

"If Rita is going to check, we can address it later," said Fairweather, who then motioned to table the item.

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