BY ANDREAS YILMA
CITIZENS NEWS
NAUGATUCK – The borough is looking to propose a new ordinance for stricter enforcement for the use of ATVs or dirt bikes in undesignated areas.
The Board of Mayor and Burgesses will hold a hearing on the proposed ordinance immediately before its next regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. June 4 at Town Hall.
Naugatuck Police Chief Colin McAllister said the proposed ordinance is for motorized recreational vehicles, specifically ATVs, dirt bikes and quads. The borough has been working with its regional partners from Oxford, Middlebury and Southbury. The ordinance is more focused on the illegal use of those recreational vehicles on the Larkin State Bridle Trail.
The Larkin State Bridle Trail is a 10.3-mile greenway that runs through Middlebury, Naugatuck, Oxford and Southbury. The trail is set on an old railroad bed for a train line that once stretched from Waterbury to Danbury. The trail runs from Route 63 in Naugatuck on one end to the IBM property off Kettletown Road in Southbury on the other.
“There’s been an uptick in illegal use of that trail by ATVs. As you know, it’s designated for passive use but specifically Bridle Trail for horses so there’s been some incidences where riders, horses have been injured,” McAllister said. “They’ve been spooked by ATVs so in some of those collaborative meetings, one of the things that we’re trying to do is have all the municipalities have similar enforcement ordinances.”
The proposed ordinance will allow the borough to not just seize ATVs but take enforcement action such as writing infractions and take action against local gas stations that provide fuel to violating ATVs, McAllister said.
Borough attorney Ned Fitzpatrick said the police don’t have to prove that a person is creating a violation of the law.
“If police find that you’re unregistered and you have this vehicle with you, they can seize it,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s subject to a hearing and the hearing officer or the community court, they can do either way.”
A person can still ride an ATV or dirt bike on private property with the permission of the property owner.
“We’re looking for the consistent violators who know these problem locations where they do drop offs,” McAllister said.
“This is modeled more specifically toward the Bridle trail but it’s not to say we don’t have problem areas in town.”
This problem of people riding ATVs in undesignated areas is not solely in the borough.
Environmental Conservation Police Department Major Brian Newman, out of Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the pandemic, DEEP has seen an increase in ATV uses.
“The focus is not just in trails but wooded areas and state parks and trail systems,” Newman said. “We’ve seen an increase in this activity across the state.”
Newman said there is currently no state land that is designated for the lawful riding of the ATVs, although people can seek permission from private land owners.
DEEP EnCon Police recently announced a joint venture with a number of area police departments to warn unauthorized riders off the trail to protect the rightful users of the trail and the long-term health of the trail itself.
The state’s announcement urged the public to be ever-vigilant in stopping any illegal activity. State officials say the operation of ATVs and off-road vehicles on the Larkin Trail, a designated horse trail, is strictly prohibited and can result in a fine for the operator and/or seizure of the vehicle.
Residents of Middlebury, which borders Naugatuck, and users of the trail have said horse riders are experiencing far too many encounters with ATV’s.
“Horses and ATV’s don’t mix,” said Middlebury Selectman Jennifer Mahr, who made the push to ramp up enforcement after receiving multiple letters from concerned citizens.
Connecticut Horse Council President Diane Ciano, said unauthorized vehicles on trails, particularly bridal trails, is a statewide problem. Ciano said enforcement on the Larkin Trail is especially difficult because ATVs are able to access the trail from private land other than town roadways.
Ciano said a female horse rider suffered head and neck injuries about six years ago when she was thrown from her horse, which had been spooked by a passing ATV along the Larkin Trail in Middlebury.
