Trespassing Put Valley ATV Riders Put Residents, Woodlands at Risk

By Michael Gold

All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) can pollute streams, wetlands and the air, destroy vegetation, which helps hold down the soil so it can absorb rain, and drive off wildlife.

They also fill the air with a considerable amount of noise, which greatly disturbs residents living nearby.

ATVs have become popular in the lower Hudson Valley. One area the riders seem to like is forest land owned by Floradan Estates, a private community of more than 90 homeowners in Putnam Valley.

The roughly 70-acre Floradan Estates borders the Peekskill Hollow Brook, part of the City of Peekskill’s watershed.

A recent walk on the Floradan property with a homeowner, showed the damage ATVs can cause. A sign posted stated clearly, “NO snowmobiles, ATVs, Dirt Bikes.” A set of mud tracks in a grass field demonstrated that the sign’s message had been ignored.

Another sign deep in the woods stated, “TOWN OF PUTNAM VALLEY – NO MOTORIZED VEHICLES ALLOWED.” That sign had been ignored, too. Nearby walking paths had been eroded. There were long, grooved ruts on the trail.

Floradan residents requested anonymity when commenting on the issue. One said she fears “retribution from the riders.”

A Floradan Estates document sent to its homeowners states that “Use of ATVs, dirt bikes, and mini dirt bikes is illegal on our property, whether the person has a license plate, insurance, and a helmet. Please remember the only way you may ride on private property is with permission of the landowner. As a homeowner you only own the property that your house sits on. All other areas, including our roads, woods, grass areas, blacktop areas are property in common and belong to the corporation. The corporation cannot give anyone permission to use these areas.”

The document explained, “Individuals in violation of this regulation are subject to enforcement by the local Sheriff’s department in accordance with local and state laws.”

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) stated, in 2011, that “Environmental impacts from ATV and off-highway vehicle (OHV) use include soil erosion, displacement and compaction, direct impacts to streams and wetlands from ATV crossings, including increased siltation and turbidity, noise, disturbance to wildlife and their habitats, damage to vegetation and air pollution. ATV use impacts neighboring landowners and conflicts with other recreational pursuits.”

“ATVs have their place,” explained Kevin Chlad, director of government affairs for the Adirondack Council, a conservation group in the North Country. “They’re a valuable tool in the right hands, for search and rescue and farming activities. ATV owners are allowed to ride on their own land, ATV facilities that allow such activity and where the owner condones this. But we’ve received calls from private landowners from ATVs trespassing on their land. There’s negative impacts – erosion, loss of vegetation, wildlife deterred from seeking refuge on their lands.”

The Putnam County Land Trust’s (PCLT) policy on ATV usage of land trust properties was provided by Judy Terlizzi, president of the PCLT, and does not allow their use on it trails for safety and for maintenance issues. Many of its trails are not wide enough to accommodate them.

The policy states ATVs “can cause damage to the trails and allow the users to go off trails creating additional negative impacts on the plants. ATVs can also be loud, negating the wish for hikers to take in the quiet and serenity of nature.”

Floradan residents have periodically submitted comments about ATVs to Putnam Valley officials and the Floradan Board of Directors (BOD).

One 2021 e-mail to the Putnam Valley Town Board stated, “…when five or six come by at once, it is like an earthquake – my house shakes, and the noise is deafening…We bear the brunt of these riders as we live right next to the entrance to the woods…these ATV riders have almost run over my dogs…”

An Oct. 21, 2022, e-mail to the Floradan Board of Directors stated, “There are many issues you as a BOD must deal with. Few are potentially more damaging to this community than the issue of ATV use.”

The letter explained ATV’s potential negative effects, including “danger to Floradan residents and their children,” “very intrusive noise, often late into the night” and “uninsured operators.”

The use of ATVs on Floradan property “…creates a liability to both BOD and to every homeowner,” the letter explained.

A Floradan resident wrote in an e-mail, “Since they travel on not only Floradan’s property but The Town of Putnam Valley’s property – it is a mystery to me as to why the Town has not done more to stop this destructive behavior and damage to our beautiful woods – we have little of such type of land left as it is to enjoy and I have no knowledge of what it is doing to our wildlife that live there but it can’t be good.”

Putnam Valley Supervisor Jacqueline Annabi advised that if Floradan residents notice unauthorized ATVs trespassing in the community, its board of directors should contact the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department.

“We have seen no proof of ATV use on town property. If there were, we would have to notify the Putnam County Sheriff,” Annabi said. “Floradan Estates is a private community. They’re their own entity, like a condo or co-op board.”

However, one resident said the Sheriff’s Department hasn’t done much to crack down on violators. In an e-mail about an incident that took place on Sunday while driving on Oscawana Lake Road, a resident who asked not to be identified stated that an ATV and a dirt bike sped past their vehicle in the opposite direction.

“I could see there were no license plates (on the vehicles), which means they were not registered and therefore not insured,” the resident stated. “Both looked like young kids.”

Another issue related to ATVs is the injuries and death they can cause.

“The dangers of riding OHVs (off-highway vehicles) are real and include overturning, collisions and occupant ejection,” the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) states on its website.

According to CPSC’s latest report, there were 2,211 deaths from 2016 to 2018 in the United States associated with OHVs, which includes all-terrain vehicles, recreational off-highway vehicles and utility-terrain vehicles.

ATVs accounted for nearly three-quarters of those deaths, with nearly 300 deaths among children under 16 years old. CPSC estimates that 112,300 injuries associated with OHVs were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments in 2020.

Over five years, ATVs were involved in 96 percent of OHV injuries, CPSC statistics show.

In late August, an ATV rider was accused of deliberately driving his vehicle into a man at high speed at a Yorktown park, leaving him unconscious and causing injuries to the victim’s head, chest and leg, then fled the scene. The suspect was charged with first-degree assault, leaving the scene of a serious injury accident, third-degree criminal mischief and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, all felonies.