Off to a bad start
In his first report to the Jefferson County Legislature, county trails coordinator Patrick Crast urged the county to violate state law. That is hardly an auspicious beginning for a new hire.
Mr. Crast is asking the county to open County Route 91 to ATV use so that riders can get to businesses in Pierrepont Manor. There are two retail businesses in Pierrepont Manor: a diner and a tavern. He also urged the opening of three town roads and, by extension, several village streets, to get riders to businesses in Adams.
The law is pretty clear about opening of public highways to ATV use. State Vehicle and Traffic Law Article 48C, Section 2405 (1) says governments "may designate and post any such public highway or portion thereof as open for travel by ATVs when in the determination of the governmental agency concerned, it is otherwise impossible for ATVs to gain access to areas or trails adjacent to the highway."
Despite this, the county's new trails coordinator apparently thinks that law is meant for someone or someplace else. "We definitely should try to get trails into some of our businesses in Pierrepont Manor or Adams," Mr. Crast said.
Lewis County has built a trails system on public roads, and has spent the past two years defending itself in court. The county and town record in the courts is far from admirable, and the lawsuits are unlikely to just fade away.
To date, Jefferson County has resisted the temptation to engage in a wholesale violation of state law. Under former trails coordinator Scott Burto, 36 miles of trails were developed with a minimum of roads being opened, and none of those roads appear to have caused the county or municipalities to have violated the law. Now, however, it appears the tide is turning.
The Jefferson County Legislature has an opportunity right now to direct their new trails coordinator to follow Burto's lead, not Lewis County's. If they start opening roads to ATV traffic so that riders can eat, drink and be merry in village and hamlets, they're going to give out the message that in the interests of commerce, they think they're above the law. And no government should ever do that.
