PETERSBURG — Township Committee is taking steps to limit ATV access to Gandy’s Pit Nature Area.
Township Administrator Gary DeMarzo reported May 22 that plans are moving ahead to build a barrier blocking entrance to the area at Burley Road.
The problem, DeMarzo said, is that some adjoining properties are privately owned and the township cannot block access through those lots.
Noting similar problems exist throughout the township, Mayor Jay Newman said they are doing whatever they can do to address the situation.
“We will work with our insurance provider and State Police to put barricades up there,” Newman said. “We are taking progressive steps to see what we can do. It’s been signed and they don’t pay attention to the signs — I have the same problem at the end of my street, they just break the barricades down.”
Deputy Mayor Kim Hayes said she looked into a township-run facility a few years ago and learned that no insurer would cover such a facility.
Committeeman Curtis Corson said one existed years ago at Routes 550 and 610 and “it was a dismal failure because kids were riding ATVs down the road to get there.”
During public comment, Joe Cotton said his property is “as close to the pit as you can get and the noise that I hear every single day is outrageous.”
He said he has contacted the State Police but has gotten nowhere and was asking Township Committee for help.
“We are going to do what we can but we cannot enforce laws as a township,” Newman said.
The mayor said State Police no longer are allowed to chase riders due to the danger that poses and that the best the township can do is put up barricades, which he admitted is not an effective solution.
He said riders take chainsaws and cut them down.
DeMarzo said if people are going to break the rules there is not much that can be done to stop them.
“People will only be policed as much as they will be policed,” he said. “If they don’t want to obey them, it is very difficult to put restrictions on private property to curtail it.”
He advised Cotton to take his complaints to division headquarters if he is not getting satisfaction from the barracks.
“Every boss has a boss, especially in the police department,” DeMarzo said. “So if you are not getting any answers from the barracks, go to the division.”
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
