Riverside Off-Road Riders Facing New Riding Rules - News - Dirt Rider Magazine

Riverside County supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday to impose new restrictions on the use of off-road vehicles on private property.Supervisor Jeff Stone, whose district includes rural areas where off-roaders have purchased large swaths of land for riding, dissented.Stone said the broad-brush approach taken by the board will penalize law-abiding residents. Instead, he said, the county should enforce a noise ordinance adopted by the supervisors earlier in the day."I fear we are creating a large, bureaucratic debacle," Stone said.Supervisor Bob Buster said the county needs a framework to begin dealing with a problem that has divided neighborhoods and caused great distress among many of his constituents who are bothered by noise and dust from the vehicles.The board agreed to review the off-roading plan six months after it goes into effect to see what adjustments need to be made.Deputy County Counsel Katherine Lind said it will take several months to get the ordinance on the books because it involves a general-plan amendment and a potential court challenge.The new rules will allow off-roading on private property in the unincorporated areas only between noon and 5 p.m.Property owners who wish to use their land for off-roading will be required to obtain a county conditional use permit and only certain properties qualify for such a permit.The proposal allows just one off-road vehicle or dirt bike per 10-acre parcel. Supervisors said the rules will be complaint-driven, so off-roaders who keep the noise down are not likely to attract the attention of enforcement officials.Owners of 5-acre properties in zones where riding is allowed will be required to obtain notarized signatures of permission from all contiguous neighbors before riding on their property.The new rules exempt vehicles used for eco-tourism, agricultural or property maintenance but require approved spark arresters on all off-road vehicles.The supervisors' decision culminated 18 months of debate between county leaders and residents over how to strike a balance between the rights of those who want to ride on their land and neighbors who want peace and quiet.Almost 100 people spoke in favor and against the rules during the public hearing, which lasted almost four hours.Many supporters of the ordinance told the supervisors that they had become hostages in their own homes to neighbors who set up illegal tracks in their backyards and rode motorcycles for hours at a time.Selina Steele, who lives in the Temecula wine country, said the new rules give consideration to the health and well-being of all the residents in the unincorporated area."Now I hope they enforce them," Steele said.A representative of the state Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division attended Tuesday's hearing to oppose the restrictions."This ordinance is unenforceable, and it makes a legal recreational activity illegal," said Tom Bernardo, a state park superintendent and a peace officer.Ed Moreland, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based motorcycle advocacy group American Motorcyclist Association, said his organization and members of the local off-road community will use the next several months to work with the supervisors in an attempt to strike a compromise."This is outrageous what the county has done," said John Diciaula, an Aguanga off-roader. "They just turned Riverside County families into criminals."