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County keeps off-road rules, with condition
By Mark Wheeler / Hi-Desert Star
SAN BERNARDINO — After hours of public comment, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously as a panel of four — with Chairman and Second District Supervisor Paul Biane absent — to retain the off-highway vehicle ordinance without revision … for now.
Adding a qualification to the motion, First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt provided that he and Third District Supervisor Dennis Hansberger would commit a further and careful examination of the document to refine its more controversial sections. No timeline was suggested for when he and Hansberger will complete their review.
Chief of Code Enforcement Randy Rogers delivered a status report for the ordinance since its adoption by a unanimous vote of the supervisors in May 2006. Recounting a long list of code enforcement achievements based on the ordinance, Rogers concluded by reading the staff’s recommendation for the supervisors: “Determine that the OHV ordinance, as written, is effective, working as intended and needs no changes.”
Opening the public comments portion of the hearing, the supervisors listened to testimonies made on behalf of both sides of the issue. OHV enthusiasts encouraged the officials to change language in certain sections of ordinance 3973, while neighborhood activists against OHV trespass on private property and general disturbance of the peace encouraged supervisors to either maintain the ordinance as written or, if changes were necessary, to make it stricter.
Speaking for the OHV community, attorney Jenny Doling called on supervisors to “correct a wrong,” and change the terms of at least the staging portion of the statute. That section states, “no person shall organize, conduct or participate in staging … involving ten or more persons, without first obtaining and maintaining on the property … a Temporary Special Event Permit….”
“Staging” is defined in the statute as a formal or informal gathering of off-highway vehicles “for the purposes of coordinating the use and operation of such off-highway vehicles on such property or the surrounding areas.”
In Doling’s and many others remarks, the staging section was criticized as prohibiting family gatherings and other such events wherever an off-road vehicle was present, whether it was being ridden or not.
Neighborhood activists countered that until the ordinance was passed, large-scale OHV gatherings had, for many years, shattered the peace and quiet of their homes, resulted in trespass on their property and, in some cases, led to hostile and near-violent confrontations. They reminded the supervisors that Rogers had testified that the terms of the ordinance did not in any way infringe on citizens’ rights to congregate for such non-OHV events as birthday parties, holiday celebrations and family gatherings.
Starting at 1:30 p.m., public testimony was finally completed by about 4:30 p.m. The supervisors proceeded with a brief discussion, making the decision to retain the ordinance at least temporarily until Hansberger and Mitzelfelt can review it at length.
For his part, the third district supervisor stated that “good manners” is really the only effective solution to the problem and he advised, “no ordinance can regulate good manners.”
Mitzelfelt stated he believes the staging portion of the statute deserves some examination and also called on staff to investigate an abbreviated process for staging permit applications.
Adding a qualification to the motion, First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt provided that he and Third District Supervisor Dennis Hansberger would commit a further and careful examination of the document to refine its more controversial sections. No timeline was suggested for when he and Hansberger will complete their review.
Chief of Code Enforcement Randy Rogers delivered a status report for the ordinance since its adoption by a unanimous vote of the supervisors in May 2006. Recounting a long list of code enforcement achievements based on the ordinance, Rogers concluded by reading the staff’s recommendation for the supervisors: “Determine that the OHV ordinance, as written, is effective, working as intended and needs no changes.”
Opening the public comments portion of the hearing, the supervisors listened to testimonies made on behalf of both sides of the issue. OHV enthusiasts encouraged the officials to change language in certain sections of ordinance 3973, while neighborhood activists against OHV trespass on private property and general disturbance of the peace encouraged supervisors to either maintain the ordinance as written or, if changes were necessary, to make it stricter.
Speaking for the OHV community, attorney Jenny Doling called on supervisors to “correct a wrong,” and change the terms of at least the staging portion of the statute. That section states, “no person shall organize, conduct or participate in staging … involving ten or more persons, without first obtaining and maintaining on the property … a Temporary Special Event Permit….”
“Staging” is defined in the statute as a formal or informal gathering of off-highway vehicles “for the purposes of coordinating the use and operation of such off-highway vehicles on such property or the surrounding areas.”
In Doling’s and many others remarks, the staging section was criticized as prohibiting family gatherings and other such events wherever an off-road vehicle was present, whether it was being ridden or not.
Neighborhood activists countered that until the ordinance was passed, large-scale OHV gatherings had, for many years, shattered the peace and quiet of their homes, resulted in trespass on their property and, in some cases, led to hostile and near-violent confrontations. They reminded the supervisors that Rogers had testified that the terms of the ordinance did not in any way infringe on citizens’ rights to congregate for such non-OHV events as birthday parties, holiday celebrations and family gatherings.
Starting at 1:30 p.m., public testimony was finally completed by about 4:30 p.m. The supervisors proceeded with a brief discussion, making the decision to retain the ordinance at least temporarily until Hansberger and Mitzelfelt can review it at length.
For his part, the third district supervisor stated that “good manners” is really the only effective solution to the problem and he advised, “no ordinance can regulate good manners.”
Mitzelfelt stated he believes the staging portion of the statute deserves some examination and also called on staff to investigate an abbreviated process for staging permit applications.
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GGWebGrrl wrote on Jan 17, 2009 1:59 PM: