Posted March 29, 2006   Email   Print

California's Riverside County passes drastic restrictions on off-road vehicles on private land

The Board of Supervisors in Riverside County, California, has approved drastic restrictions on the use of off-road vehicles on private land, ignoring pleas from families who ride and setting aside compromise legislation recommended by the Board's own planning commission.

The Board also approved new sound ordinances that are so strict a homeowner could be in violation if he operated an electric toothbrush at his property line, in some locations.

The AMA expressed outrage at the Board's decision to ignore the recommendations of its own Planning Commission, which supported carefully crafted compromise legislation hammered out over a period of months by the AMA and other off-road groups, working with the commission.

"I'm stunned that the board would take such draconian measures when its own Planning Commission presented it with a plan that everyone could live with," said Edward Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations.

"I'm also disappointed that the board refused to base its decision on science presented by sound experts," Moreland added. "Instead, the board based its decision on the conjecture and hyperbole of a few vocal proponents of the strict law."

Under the new laws approved by the Board on March 28, off-highway riders can only ride from noon to 5 p.m. on their own property in the unincorporated parts of Riverside County.

Landowners can only allow one off-highway vehicle to be in use for every 10 acres of land, with a maximum of four vehicles allowed. Landowners could use a vehicle on smaller parcels only with written permission of their neighbors. To have more than four OHVs using a property, a landowner must get a conditional use permit that could easily cost more than $10,000.

Plus, under the new law, riders must stay 100 feet from property lines and 250 feet from neighboring homes.

The Board of Supervisors also gave final approval to a new sound law that sets maximum allowable sound levels at the property line at 50, 55 or 75 decibels, depending on the zoning of the parcel.

According to the League for the Hard of Hearing, rainfall generates 50 decibels of sound, a normal conversation is 60 decibels, an electric toothbrush is 50 to 60 decibels, and an air conditioner measures at 50 to 75 decibels.

While the sound law doesn't specifically target off-highway motorcycles and ATVs, it was written in part as a result of noise complaints about off-highway vehicle riders, and also to address loud music at private parties.

Riverside County is the home and practice ground of racing heroes like Jeremy McGrath, Rick Johnson and Jeff Emig. Also, Honda, Yamaha, KTM, Suzuki and Kawasaki have test facilities there. And the county is home to almost 30 OHV-related businesses, plus 48,000 registered OHVs.

OHV enthusiasts in neighboring counties should be concerned because officials in those counties have been closely following the developments in Riverside County. If those counties impose similar restrictions on OHVs it could have enormous implications, since there are more than 150,000 registered OHVs in the neighboring counties of San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego.

San Bernardino County has already proposed new restrictions on riding OHVs on private property.

© 2006, American Motorcyclist Association