Jersey’s first public off-road riding park??

[dogg57]

New Jersey is closer to fulfilling a 2010 promise to find suitable public riding space for dirt bikers and all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts.
Lawmakers that year increased fines for illegal riding from $75 to $100, and required a registration fee for dirt bikes and ATVs. But the law first required the state Department of Environmental Protection to identify at least one suitable riding location before imposing the new rules.
Last month, the DEP bought the former Mount Pleasant Sand and Gravel pit off Route 610 in Woodbine for $393,000. The 63-acre property was a former motocross track that was converted into a paintball course in 2007.
The state plans to solicit bids to lease the land to a private operator as New Jersey’s first public riding park.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_5136245a-2132-11e1-b289-001871e3ce6c.html

 

[dogg57]

Steve Cowan was like a lot of kids growing up in Cape May County who considered riding all-terrain vehicles as a basic part of life in his rural mainland neighborhood.
“That’s how we used to get down to the local store to get bubble gum,” said Cowan, of Dennis Township, who’s now 43 with four children of his own.
Cowan’s children also grew up riding ATVs on the family’s six acres along Gravel Hole Road, but, today, not everyone finds that to be such an innocent hobby.
“They just refuse to recognize our basic fundamental right of peaceable living,” said Gary Gibson, who lives nearby and has complained about allegedly illegal off-road riding for years. “There are people here who just want to live in our homes. That’s all we want to do.”
There are few legal areas for ATV- and dirt-bike riding in New Jersey; ATV and dirt-bike riders often conduct their hobby on private, state or municipally owned property. A 2010 law directs the state Department of Environmental Protection to make substantial progress in finding three such sites in the state — one in the south, one in the center and one in the north — within three years or stricter regulations also contained in the law will expire.
In Woodbine, Cape May County, is the future site of the first state-owned ATV park. The 63-acre gravel pit is meant to provide a legal place to ride safely, courteously and without harming the environment.
The property was previously a motocross track, so officials are confident there should be few problems with it becoming one again. The real question, though, is whether it can help reduce illegal riding that people such as Gibson think is out of control.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_5d0ebfb0-d363-11e1-b4a1-0019bb2963f4.html

 

[manumuskin]

I don't think it will reduce illegal riding. When can most people ride? On the weekends.Imagine the crowds if all south jersey and a great number of shoobies hit the park every weekend.Most people don't want crowds.They will say heck with these crowds,I'm going back to Wharton or Bevan or wherever they went before.Then again maybe I'm wrong but I know I resent being forced into crowded situations such as the legal camping system our state forests use to herd people together in one spot so you have to hear the annoying rap or heavy metal of the campers next door. Thats why I like my islands that no ranger in their right mind will crawl out to to check on. Just drop your gear well before you get back to your truck,walk in and recon the parking spot then drive down the road and pick up your gear where you dropped it in the brush beside the road.No gear your not camping.I imagine if the riders are into stunts they may like it but if I was going to ride it would be to get away from everyone else.Maybe I'm misunderstanding the reason for wheels.