RSSATV enthusiasts zoned out
Off-road devotees are challenging county regulations that prohibit them from riding on their own propertyYakima Herald-Republic
Steve Agnew checks the rear tire pressure on his nephew James Niles' motorcycle before Niles went riding on Agnew's Selah-area property on Oct. 4, 2008. Agnew, along with other off-road vehicle users, wants Yakima County to loosen its current rules regarding ORV use.
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Like many members of the Yakima Dust Dodgers Motorcycle and ATV Club, Dan Huff wants to ride on his own property.
But a dispute over what the organization says is a property-rights issue is brewing in Yakima County, pitting users of off-road vehicles against county regulations.
Backers of a proposal that would permit more ORV use in the county say restrictive county rules are stopping them from using their property.
"Fundamentally, it is wrong that government can prohibit you from enjoying your own property without regard to whether it impacts your neighbor," said Huff, a Sunnyside insurance agent and member of the Dust Dodgers.
The club is requesting a change in current regulations that would add specific limits and expand the number of zones where off-road vehicle use is allowed.
Ultimately, county commissioners will make the final decision within the next several months.
From the county's perspective, the proposal would be nearly impossible to regulate in the face of what officials say are growing complaints about dirt bikes and the noise and dust they create.
Currently, there are no permitted ORV parks in the county, which forces enthusiasts to use places that aren't permitted or travel long distances to pursue their hobby.
Steve Agnew, owner of a company that manufactures fruit coatings, cleansers and sanitizers for the apple industry, says the county in 2006 ordered him to halt use of a small track he created for he and his sons. The action was based on a neighbor complaint.
Agnew says he will continue to fight to have a place for his sons to ride. He says it is prohibitively expensive with high gas prices to drive to the closest ORV park at Horn Rapids or into the mountains.
"I don't want mad neighbors. I work with my neighbors. I want to have fun with my kids. You only have a few years to have those bonds develop," says Agnew, who lives on the Selah-Naches Road, northwest of Selah.
"There are a lot of people who are hard-working people who want to sit in their lawn chair and watch their kids ride. It just makes me sick when you go around and find people being harassed for letting their kids ride minibikes in a cow pasture."
Enthusiasts contend they have been targeted for enforcement even without a complaint being filed.
County code enforcement officials dispute the contention and add they aren't going after kids on putt-putt vehicles. Farmers who use four-wheel vehicles on their farms and orchards are exempt.
Dave Saunders, head of permit services for the county, said his staff doesn't go out looking for potential violations.
The county does not have an extensive list of complaints about dirt bike usage on file. Saunders said a total of 40 complaints have been filed over the past six years.
But outside the formal code enforcement complaint process that deals with the zoning issue, sheriff's deputies are receiving more every-day complaints from citizens related to these vehicles, said Undersheriff Dan Garcia.
Those complaints, which number about 80 in the last 12 months, are about noise, dust, damage, reckless operation, and ORVs on county roads that aren't street-legal.
Paul McIlrath, deputy county prosecutor working on the issue, said he understands the Dust Dodgers' arguments about property rights.
"That is the whole nature of land-use. It is a balance," he says. "Lots of times people feel they have the right to unfettered use of their land without regulation. The law says differently. The reason for that is to balance the community interests against the rights of the individual."
"Where does that fall? I don't know the answer to that," he says.
Yakima County's current zoning ordinance defines off-road vehicle facilities as motor-cross courses, jeep courses, snowmobile courses and similar facilities.
Such facilities are permitted with a public hearing before a hearing examiner -- the highest level of review possible -- in mountain areas, remote, mostly uninhabited areas and in sparsely populated rural areas.
A 1999 interpretation of the zoning ordinance by former Planning Director Dick Anderwald concluded owners have a right to use their property for ORV use as long as the parcel is more than 3 acres in size; is used solely by the owner; doesn't include any jumps or ramps and no wear patterns are created.
Uses that violate those provisions trigger the ordinance and require a permit.
Mark Watson, a Yakima attorney and president of the Dust Dodgers, says the county ordinance ought to emphasize potential impacts on neighbors and not on what he calls subjective standards.
"We are trying to balance the rights and impacts on neighbors," argued Watson. "Right now, there is no balance."
To consider neighbor issues, the group proposes to limit hours of operation, the number of motorcycles or all-terrain vehicles that could be in operation at any one time, allow no commercial use, and impose a noise standard. The standard would be based on noise levels from the vehicle's tailpipe and at the property line.
Watson said the noise section is an attempt to address the county noise ordinance.
The group also cites safety as an issue for young riders. Those able to ride on their own course or one nearby will be more familiar with the terrain.
Garcia of the Sheriff's Office expressed concern about youthful riders using a home course on a summer day without adult supervision. He foresees a potential for the number of riders to expand beyond what the group's proposal allows.
Other county officials echo the concern about enforcement. Saunders, the permit official, says he sees problems with trying to measure noise levels once a complaint is received. By the time a code enforcement official arrives, the activity may have ceased or moved to another area.
"My position on ORV facilities is they are something that needs to be considered as a land use and what the process is. My issue is how we go about regulating that afterward," he says. "I'm neutral on the ORV issue. I have to deal with the part that is my job."
McIlrath, the county attorney, says it is difficult for the county to regulate an activity based on the vehicle instead of the land use.
"We don't want to be in a position to decide if a person has the right-sized engine and is operating at an acceptable level," he says.
Greg Moss, a mechanical engineer and longtime motorcycle rider, says the low number of complaints the county has received suggests to him ORV use is not the problem the county makes it out to be.
Moss, 35 and a motorcycle club member, says the county only wants to take the easiest road available to deal with the issue.
"It's something they see as a hassle and shouldn't have to deal with it. I understand that," he says. "But it is preventing people from using their property."
* David Lester can be reached at 577-7674 or dlester@yakimaherald.com.
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