Bonnie George
01-08-2007, 09:36 AM
$1 million, 300-acre site on Lee agenda
At least 300 acres in Lee County could be designated for all-terrain vehicles and off-road motorcycles by the end of the year, giving riders of the popular outdoor vehicles their first public park.
Commissioners on Monday will discuss spending more than $1 million to create a plan that includes finding a site for ATVs and off-road motorcycles that will include marked trails, restrooms, parking and a small administration building. There are more than 5,300 titles for off-road vehicles in Lee County, according to state statistics.
John Yarbrough, the county's director of parks and recreation, said the park would be in east or north Lee, and the county would need to find land available or donated, because 300 acres would be too expensive.
"Because of growth, people who have ATVs feel like there is no legal place to ride them," he said.
According to a state law that went into effect on Oct. 1, ATVs are only legal on unpaved roads where the speed limit is less than 35 mph. That leaves riders with nearly nothing legal in Lee.
The planning money is coming from grants from the state Department of Environmental Protection, which is contributing the bulk of the money, $437,420, and the Division of Forestry, which is adding $70,000. The county parks and recreation department has budgeted $600,000 during the next two years to match the grants.
Yarbrough is hoping the county does not need to spend all that money on planning, although he declined to estimate how much planning will cost.
Commissioner Ray Judah said he is interested to hear what the parks and recreation staff has to say about the issue.
"ATVs and the environment don't mix real well," he said. "They scorch the earth, create excessive noise, disturbing wildlife and are generally incompatible with wilderness areas."
Yarbrough admitted riders may use preservation land, private property or roads intended for cars.
Using roads is dangerous. People treated for ATV-related injuries jumped from 82,000 in 1999 to 136,100 in 2004, a 66 percent increase, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. There were 257 ATV-related deaths reported in Florida from 1982 through 2004. Seventy-two of the ATV-related deaths were reported in Florida from 2002 through 2004.
A 16-year-old Lehigh Acres teen died last year when two ATVs collided.
At Westcoast Motorsports in Fort Myers, sales representatives give people a brochure for a ATV and off-road motorbike park called C & R Motorsports. It is in Venus, a tiny inland town in Highlands County, nearly 60 miles away.
"It'd be great to have more places to ride, especially places that were designed for that," said Aaron Barney, a sales manager at Westcoast Motorsports. "It'd make the sport more fun."
Commissioner Bob Janes called a park a neat idea.
"Hopefully it would attract people to go there instead of areas that aren't safe," he said. "We need something like this."
By Ryan Hiraki
rhiraki@news-press.com
At least 300 acres in Lee County could be designated for all-terrain vehicles and off-road motorcycles by the end of the year, giving riders of the popular outdoor vehicles their first public park.
Commissioners on Monday will discuss spending more than $1 million to create a plan that includes finding a site for ATVs and off-road motorcycles that will include marked trails, restrooms, parking and a small administration building. There are more than 5,300 titles for off-road vehicles in Lee County, according to state statistics.
John Yarbrough, the county's director of parks and recreation, said the park would be in east or north Lee, and the county would need to find land available or donated, because 300 acres would be too expensive.
"Because of growth, people who have ATVs feel like there is no legal place to ride them," he said.
According to a state law that went into effect on Oct. 1, ATVs are only legal on unpaved roads where the speed limit is less than 35 mph. That leaves riders with nearly nothing legal in Lee.
The planning money is coming from grants from the state Department of Environmental Protection, which is contributing the bulk of the money, $437,420, and the Division of Forestry, which is adding $70,000. The county parks and recreation department has budgeted $600,000 during the next two years to match the grants.
Yarbrough is hoping the county does not need to spend all that money on planning, although he declined to estimate how much planning will cost.
Commissioner Ray Judah said he is interested to hear what the parks and recreation staff has to say about the issue.
"ATVs and the environment don't mix real well," he said. "They scorch the earth, create excessive noise, disturbing wildlife and are generally incompatible with wilderness areas."
Yarbrough admitted riders may use preservation land, private property or roads intended for cars.
Using roads is dangerous. People treated for ATV-related injuries jumped from 82,000 in 1999 to 136,100 in 2004, a 66 percent increase, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. There were 257 ATV-related deaths reported in Florida from 1982 through 2004. Seventy-two of the ATV-related deaths were reported in Florida from 2002 through 2004.
A 16-year-old Lehigh Acres teen died last year when two ATVs collided.
At Westcoast Motorsports in Fort Myers, sales representatives give people a brochure for a ATV and off-road motorbike park called C & R Motorsports. It is in Venus, a tiny inland town in Highlands County, nearly 60 miles away.
"It'd be great to have more places to ride, especially places that were designed for that," said Aaron Barney, a sales manager at Westcoast Motorsports. "It'd make the sport more fun."
Commissioner Bob Janes called a park a neat idea.
"Hopefully it would attract people to go there instead of areas that aren't safe," he said. "We need something like this."
By Ryan Hiraki
rhiraki@news-press.com