Noise, recreational vehicle ordinances to be modified before reintroduction to North Ridgeville Council

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — A pair of ordinances seeking to address complaints of loud, extended use of dirt bikes and similar recreational vehicles in North Ridgeville will be updated and reintroduced before City Council will consider them. At a meeting of Council's Safety Committee on Monday, Police Chief Michael Freeman said the proposed legislation, in its current form, would be difficult to enforce and might not resolve the problems as intended. The two ordinances in question were introduced last year by former Councilman Jim Maleski, R-at-large, and he said it was nearly two years ago that he first met with Freeman about the idea. One ordinance would change certain sections of city code dealing with snowmobiles, off-highway motorcycles including dirt bikes, and all-purpose vehicles, in part to state that the vehicles could not be ridden on any private property less than three acres and excluding combined parcels with different property owners. The other would change city code dealing with "noise control" to "sound control" and establish a limit of "94-96 decibels at 50% RPM over a five (5) minute time-period at the property line." Maleski said the complaint-driven legislation was previously discussed publicly at two committee meetings and was read once in a Council meeting. The purpose is to help police by adding "a new tool to their toolbox," he said. Though he agreed the idea was good, Freeman had multiple concerns with the proposed legislation. One issue was that most complaints to police about recreational vehicles involve multiple riders on a single property, complicating the matter of measuring the vehicles' sound levels. Freeman also suggested increasing the minimum property size for riding the vehicles, drawing a comparison to a bow hunting ordinance on the books in North Ridgeville that limits deer hunting to sites five acres or larger. "I think if you own five acres of land, I think you can do this hobby respectfully, because you are living on the right-sized piece of property and you can get away from your neighbors," he said. In the future version of the legislation that would be drafted for Council's consideration, Freeman also mentioned the duration of time riding would be permitted and the number of riders allowed on one property as issues he would like to see addressed. Councilman Bruce Abens, R-3rd Ward, said the city's law department determined that limiting the use of the recreational vehicles to properties five acres or larger could be found overly restrictive if challenged in court, because of the dwindling number of properties that large in North Ridgeville. Freeman said there are really only about five properties in North Ridgeville where off-road vehicle riders persistently cause problems to their neighbors. "In very few cases, it is the individual rider (causing complaints). We're having trouble where people turn their homestead into a track," Freeman said. Multiple members of Council recalled stories they have heard from residents about neighbors riding loud off-road vehicles for hours on end, in one case kicking up dirt onto the resident's shed. Abens said one property can have six to eight bikes running at once. Freeman said he will see how these issues are legislated and enforced in similar communities, such as Avon and Strongsville, and will report his findings back to members of Council. Currently, North Ridgeville police enforce the city's noise ordinance by standing at the residential boundary line. "If you can hear it, you can enforce it. But obviously, just like any law, you try to use some reasonableness," Freeman said. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.