Judge tosses ATV trail law in Leyden
LOWVILLE — A judge has thrown out the town of Leyden's law allowing all-terrain-vehicle traffic on all 35 miles of its town roads.
State Supreme Court Judge Joseph D. McGuire, in a decision filed Tuesday in the Lewis County clerk's office, declared the May 2002 town law null and void.
When opening roads to ATVs, state law — as interpreted in prior court decisions — requires municipalities to determine that they are necessary to gain access to adjacent areas or trails.
However, in Leyden's case, "there is no record that the Town considered the necessary criteria or made the necessary determination under the Vehicle and Traffic law before deciding to open every mile of Town road to ATV use," Judge McGuire wrote.
Judge McGuire rejected the town's rationale that the ATV law "serves legitimate government functions in providing farmers with access to their fields and serving as connectors between ATV trails in the Western Adirondacks and the Tug Hill."
The judge's ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed earlier this year by Canton attorney Scott B. Goldie on behalf of town residents Bruce R. Krug, Carol Sue Lustyik, Lawrence Ennis and Deanna Leffingwell.
Town Attorney Steven A. Smith argued that the four residents lacked legal standing to bring the suit against the town. However, the judge ruled that at least one, Mrs. Leffingwell, had "scaled the hurdle" because she lives on a town road and had seen an ATV driver lose control and go onto her lawn, nearly striking a tree.
"We were happy to see this decision," said Mr. Krug, a former Democratic county legislator and Legislature chairman.
He said he hopes the ruling will serve as notice to other towns with blanket road openings.
"It shows that they're operating outside the state Constitution and they're opening their taxpayers to liability," Mr. Krug said.
Judge McGuire's ruling will have little impact on Lewis County's development of a countywide ATV system, said county Trail Coordinator Robert C. Diehl.
"Our process is in place," Mr. Diehl said. "This doesn't even rate as an inconvenience."
For more than a year, officials from the county and the Lewis County ATV Association have been seeking property owners willing to open their land for private trails, with the county association providing liability insurance coverage.
The Northern Oneida ATV Club in Boonville has done a good job of finding willing Leyden landowners, and town and county road portions could be opened to connect private trails once they're developed, Mr. Diehl said. A fairly extensive trail system should be in place next season.
Mr. Krug, who in 2005 stepped down after 12 years as a county legislator, has since served as de facto spokesman for a group of county residents opposing ATV road openings.
Members of that group in 2006 filed lawsuits against ATV laws in the towns of Martinsburg and West Turin. The Martinsburg Town Council, in response, passed a new law opening only a portion of its roads, while the West Turin suit was dropped because the town's ATV law already had expired.
