Greenfield rethinks, ATV, snowmobile rules

JIM KINNEY, The Saratogian
10/25/2006
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GREENFIELD -- A request from a local all-terrain vehicle club for permission to use the far end of Plank Road near Lake Desolation west of Porter Corners has the town board rethinking ATV and snowmobile rules all around town.

The town has certain roads designated so that snowmobilers can use the shoulders, Supervisor Al Janik said. But it hasn't looked at those regulations in at least a dozen years.

'The area has grown,' Janik said. 'One is Brigham Road off of 9N, and the other is Bockes Road near the school. We just need to take another look. My main concern is liability.'

Both issues, Plank Road and the snowmobile regulations, are set for the Town Board's agenda Nov. 9.

The North Country Trail Riders Association appeared at the board's October meeting. President Fay Detraglia said the 90 club members have been using Plank Road for years as a way to get from their parking area to 1,500 acres of timber land they rent from Finch, Pruyn and Co. atop the ridge.

Detraglia said some of the land they rent is near the site of a proposed wind farm.

The problem came when the town paved Plank Road last year and then painted lines on it this summer. This took Plank Road from a secondary road to a primary road under state law, Detraglia said. The designation means that club members need permission to use the road.

'We're past the last house,' Detraglia said. 'It's a very lightly traveled road.'

Janik said he doesn't doubt the club, but he fears that once the road is designated for ATVs, others with less a sense of responsibility will use it.

'It's a liability issue,' he said.

He said the state Department of Environmental Conservation has ticketed riders.

Detraglia said there's already a problem with trespassers and the signs would go up well off the beaten path.

'We don't want the signs down by the stop sign,' he said.

Club members pay $100 a year for individual dues or $125 a year for a family. That gets them, among other things, access to lands including the Finch property in Porter Corners. Members get stickers for their machines saying they belong.

'All our riders have their machines registered with the state and are insured,' Detraglia said.

Reach Jim Kinney at jkinney@saratogian.com or 518-583-8729 ext.216.