Zoning Re-Write Has Dirt-Bike Advocates Concerned
by Alex Brooks
There were more than the usual number of people joining the Hoosick Town Board meeting by Zoom, and the issue on their minds appeared to be the zoning rewrite that the Town Board is currently engaged in, and specifically the part about regulating dirt bike tracks. The Board has been hearing for over a year from neighbors of a property in West Hoosick on which a track has been set up. Under the Town’s current zoning law, a commercial motorbike track is not allowed, but individuals riding bikes on their own land is OK. But defining what is a commercial track and what is personal use can get difficult – if you invite a friend over to ride with you, it still sounds like personal use, but if you invite a dozen friends to ride with you, it starts to sound like something more than personal use. The Board has been discussing this issue for the past year, and as part of a more comprehensive rewrite of the Town Zoning Law it is seeking to rewrite the section that deals with dirt bikes and ATVs to clarify what is allowed and what is prohibited.
Town Attorney Jonathan Schopf provided the Board last month with a draft of revisions to the Town Zoning Law for its consideration. The draft has not been made public because the Board is still reading it and deciding what it thinks of it, but there was some discussion of it at last month’s Town Board meeting. This newspaper’s description of that discussion (which a Town Board statement this month described as “not accurate”) may have been the thing that alerted dirt bike riders and their advocates that regulation of dirt bike use is under consideration and brought some of them to the Town Board meeting to comment.
Local Realtor Wendy Larsen asked, “How can I sell land in this Town if the purchasers can’t do what they want with their land?” She said her son is an avid motorbike rider and though her family is not now seeking to buy land, they might at some point want to buy land for him to ride on. Others tried to comment over zoom but had technical problems. But they made their feelings against dirt bike regulation clear in the zoom comment section.
Supervisor Mark Surdam said in his Supervisor’s Report, “I have received many e-mails from West Hoosick property owners who continue to voice their concerns with the anticipated operation of the motocross track again this spring and the negative impacts on their properties. Some are concerned with the social media posts which are negative, some personal, and some can be perceived as threatening towards neighbors in the area.”
Surdam also received a letter from Peter Stockus of the American Motorcyclist Association expressing concern about restrictions on off-road motorcycle use on private property and urging the Board to “support the property rights of local residents.” Surdam called Stocks and discussed the issues raised by the letter.
There is a good deal of sympathy on the Board for the point of view of these dirt bike advocates. Eric Sheffer said he agrees with much of what they are saying. A Town Board statement on the issue said it is “in no way seeking to prohibit the reasonable use of private property for normal and customary family dirt-bike and ATV riding.”
That statement said about its current effort to revise the zoning laws, “the intent of the law, as with all zoning laws, is to provide a balance between the competing interests of property owners.” That balance, in the West Hills, must be struck between property owners who feel their property should come with some assurance of peace and quiet, and other property owners who feel their property should come with a right to operate noisy motorized equipment on it. The Board also assured the public that its deliberations on this issue will include plenty of opportunities for public input. The Board said, “The Town Board is reviewing a draft zoning law and will soon schedule public workshop sessions as well as seeking input from the Planning and Zoning Boards to reach a final draft version of the law.” When the final draft is ready, there will be a public hearing on it before a vote is taken on approving it.