Riverside County Sued Over OHV Ordinances
BAKERSFIELD, CA (April 11,2006) –On April 10, 2006, EcoLogic
Partners, Inc., the Off-Road Business Association (ORBA), the San Diego
Off-Road Coalition (SDORC), the California Off-Road Vehicle Association
(CORVA), the American Motorcyclists Association District 37 (AMA D37),
and the American Sand Association (ASA) filed suit against the County
of Riverside alleging that the County’s recently adopted Noise and OHV
ordinances violate state law. EcoLogic, the American Motorcyclist
Association (AMA), ORBA, The McGrath family and residents of Riverside
County have worked for almost two years to help the county craft an
ordinance fair to all parties involved. It is unfortunate the
Supervisors in Riverside chose to ignore the rights of families in the
county to ride OHV’s on their own property.
The lawsuit filed in Riverside County Superior court alleges the noise
and OHV ordinances violate various state regulations on four separate
issues. The noise ordinance is inconsistent with the County’s General
Plan which is a violation of state planning and zoning laws. The
section of the OHV ordinance that requires riders to carry written
permission when on private property is in direct conflict with
California State Penal Code §602.2. The OHV ordinance also fails to
include a “grandfather” clause to protect the vested rights of
landowners who have used OHV’s on their properties for many years.
Finally, the county’s environmental review of the two ordinances were
wholly inadequate as they have failed to account for the many impacts
expected once OHV use on private land becomes subjected to the severe
restrictions imposed by these ordinances.
EcoLogic Attorney David Hubbard stated “We tried to have the
deficiencies in this ordinance corrected prior to its approval, the
Supervisors chose to ignore our comments and this lawsuit is our only
recourse.” Meg Grossglass of ORBA commented “These ordinances
violate state regulations and it is the intent of the OHV organizations
involved to protect the rights of recreational riders in Riverside
County which has traditionally been the home of many families that
recreate together on their own property.”