Lack Of East End ATV Parks Frustrates Local Riders

Jodi Cesta finds it frustrating that she must drive from Hampton Bays to Calverton, a 40-mile round trip, every time she wants to ride her motorized dirt bike legally.

She said she fell in love with riding off-road vehicles as a child, noting that she was introduced to the popular pastime while growing up in Pine Bush in Orange County, New York. It was only until after she moved to Southampton Town 11 years ago that she learned that the municipality has no designated parks or facilities for off-road enthusiasts like herself.

“It’s because people don’t want to hear the noise,” said Ms. Cesta, 26, of the lack of legal ATV trails in the town. “The place is flooded with people who have a lot of money, and they don’t care what everyone else wants to do. That’s the nicest way I can put it.”

There are no public ATV trails or parks in Southampton Town and, according to Deputy Town Supervisor Frank Zappone, that is by design.

“I think the bottom line comes to the liability issues,” Mr. Zappone said. “There is no way we can ensure people are licensed, wearing their helmets, that the vehicles are insured.”

Ms. Cesta, who works at Hampton Motor Sports in Southampton on Saturdays, said the situation is problematic because riding off-road vehicles is a great activity for people to do on the weekends. “It’s sad, too, because at the bike shop I work at people can buy stuff, but then they would be, like, ‘Where can I ride?’ And I was, like, ‘Nowhere,’” Ms. Cesta said. “They sell a lot of fun stuff there—quads, dirt bikes, stuff kids should have. But there’s nowhere to ride.”

Other local enthusiasts share the same frustrations as Ms. Cesta about the lack of places to ride ATVs, and the recent news that the Suffolk County sheriff’s office would be cracking down on illegal riding in the Pine Barrens only upsets them further.

“I know that many of the trails in the Sag Harbor-Bridgehampton area were first cut and maintained by riders,” said Bennet Swezey of Sag Harbor. “That being said, there is nothing wrong with them policing these trails. What is wrong is that the trails that were made by riders are now all walking trails, and we are left with no place to ride.”

Mr. Swezey, 18, who has been riding for 10 years, said that if there was a public ATV park on the East End, he would spend most of his time riding there.

His friend, Max Miller, 17, also of Sag Harbor, shares similar feelings about the hobby. “Many dirt bike/ATV riders do like to go fast on a track, and that’s all they like to do,” Max said of his fellow enthusiasts who visit public ATV parks, the closest of which is Moto 1 Long Island in Calverton. “So it would get many riders out of private or public property, because they would have a place to go.

“I think dirt biking/ATVing should not be looked down on as much as it is,” he continued. “It is a good, proactive hobby for many young kids, teens. Keeps them away from many worse things they could be doing.”

Officials from the Suffolk County sheriff’s office announced late last month that they are stepping up their enforcement to prevent the further destruction of the Central Pine Barrens, an environmentally sensitive region that is off-limits to unauthorized off-road vehicles. In the past, an officer with the Suffolk County Parks Police Department had been responsible for handling all calls placed with the department’s non-emergency hotline dedicated to reporting such offenses, 1-877-BARRENS. But budget cuts, and the subsequent elimination of county positions over the past five years, severely limited the ability of parks police officers to protect the forest, explained John Pavacic, executive director of the Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission.

The phone line, as of a few months ago, now transfers a caller directly to the Suffolk County sheriff’s office, which has someone fielding and responding to calls around the clock.

First-time offenders can face fines between $250 and $500; a second offense warrants a fine between $750 and $1,500; and a third offense is punishable with up to a $5,000 fine and 16 days in prison, according to the law.

Those caught riding their ATVs on public property can also have their vehicles impounded. The release fee is $500 per vehicle.

While they understand the need to police the Pine Barrens, most ATV riders said that such a presence would not be necessary if those like them simply had a place to ride.

“If you created a system where ATVs are registered and insured, how hard would it be to carve out a ditch and say, ‘Here, this is something you could do,’” said Michael Tessitore of East Quogue. “There is plenty of land in Suffolk County, Southampton and Brookhaven.”

Mr. Tessitore, who is also the president of Hunters For Deer, said he bought an acre of land in East Quogue for his kids to ride on because of the lack of public places for them to go.

“It’s a great activity and it’s good because it teaches them to understand motor skills,” Mr. Tessitore said. “To know which is the brake, what is the gas.”

ATV riding is permitted on private properties, as long as the rider has the permission of the land owners. “If it’s their private property then the liability is on them,” Mr. Zappone said.

About a decade ago, there was an unsuccessful push by off-road enthusiasts to create a public ATV park in western Southampton Town. In 2006, there were two proposals for ATV parks—one off Speonk-Riverhead Road in Speonk and another in Eastport. Neither application made it past the proposal stages, however.

“I vaguely remember that, but I was not working in Town Hall back then,” Mr. Zappone said of that decade-old effort.

Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, a longtime Suffolk County legislator before taking over the town’s top post last month, was not available for comment this week.

But Mr. Zappone said it would be difficult for the town to change course at this time.

“The reason why we don’t have any [ATV parks] is because of the liability issues of the vehicles,” he said. “There are liability issues with the use of those vehicles and the town has not legalized the use on the town property.”