MONTGOMERY — A local bill regulating off-road vehicle parks is generating buzz around the State House as the final days of the session draw near.
The bill by State Sen. Andrew Jones (R-Centre) would regulate off-road vehicle parks in Cherokee County, including permitting, inspecting, operating and fining for violations.
The bill states that the county commission may not consider a park permit application before the proposed park has been inspected by the county license inspector or his or her designee. Following the inspection, the county license inspector or designee shall certify to the commission whether the proposed park has satisfied the bill's requirements.
If the proposed park satisfies the requirements, the commission shall approve the park. If the county license inspector determines that the proposed park is deficient in any regard, the inspector shall detail the deficiency to the commission and recommend that the application be denied. The inspector shall send the applicant a copy of any recommendation or deficiency report.
The bill also states the county commission may charge a "reasonable inspection fee," payable by the operator of the proposed park and may establish reasonable operating hours for parks.
Jones told 1819 News in a recent interview, "It just basically goes through a permitting process because it's in the county. It's not in a city. There just needs to be some rules and regulations that folks follow. Common-sense stuff."
"There's not going to be any impact on the business as long as they go through the permitting process and they follow some common-sense rules like not running in the middle of the night, staying out of the waterways, for example, making sure they're managing traffic where they don't cross the roads in front of cars, things of that nature. The bill has the unanimous support of the commission and the legislative delegation so it's just simply a matter of having the park follow what most of them have as their own rules," Jones said.
LaBreeska Ponder, co-owner of Indian Mountain ATV Park in Piedmont, told 1819 News, "This bill totally is designed to regulate our small business and only our small business. We are the sole and only off-road park in Cherokee County."
"This bill puts our operating of business solely into the hands of the county commission. It does not allow us to regulate our own business anymore. That is a big way it affects us," Ponder said.
The bill has generated heated discussions on social media. The local bill passed the Senate unanimously and is currently in the House County and Municipal Government Committee.
The Senate delayed multiple bills sponsored by House members scheduled for votes on Tuesday after Jones requested they be carried due to "processes and common courtesies" being subverted in ways that are "outside of the norm." The House responded to the Senate's delay by postponing votes on bills sponsored by Senators. Jones was asked by a reporter if his requests to carry over House bills had anything to do with his local off-road vehicle park bill.
"That bill is in House committee, and that's all I know about the status of it at the moment," Jones said.
Jones told local WEIS radio, "The Facebook warriors seem to be forgetting about the local Cherokee County residents who live around the ATV Park. These folks have rights as well, and they have been asking for help for over 5 years. Riders from out of state and out of county should not be allowed to negatively impact the quality of life for residents of the Rock Run community."
"My job is to find a middle ground that protects our citizens and provides reasonable rules through which the ATV park can continue to operate. Our proposed regulations are much less strict than Georgia. I challenge everyone to read the bill for themselves. There's absolutely nothing in the legislation that would shut an ATV park down," Jones said. "It's unfortunate that we have to have legislation so that folks will be good neighbors, but sadly, that is where we are at. We would not be in this situation if the park operators had worked with surrounding property owners to put reasonable safeguards in place. By this time next year, I'm hopeful that folks will see the ATV park continuing to flourish, local residents having some peace, and all involved being on better terms with each other."
Ponder said the bill would "greatly impact" Indian Mountain ATV Park.
"[Jones] words this bill as 'It's only a $50 permit.' He doesn't elaborate on the fact that not only is it a $50 permit, it also opens the door for the county to do any and all inspections that they want to do at the owner's expense. Not only are they going to regulate my times of operation, my business's days of operations, my day-to-day operation, they're now going to tell me throughout these inspections that I have to pay the inspectors to come out. Now, mind you, it's the county road department engineer, I'm not really sure if he has any knowledge or basis of what he's looking at when he comes, like what do I know? Yet I have to pay him to come. I have to pay other organizations to come out to do 'inspections' under this bill," Ponder said.
Ponder continued, "It will greatly impact our business. I'll just be blunt. It will no longer be our business. It will be the county commission's business and that is just purely taking away the civil liberties and civil rights of an American. Period. I don't know any entrepreneur that builds a business for the government to come in and snatch it from them."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email [email protected].
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
