PENDLETON, N.Y. (WKBW) — A month after Pendleton voted to close the town-owned ATV trail, a group of riders in the community has proposed a plan to reopen it by next year.
The ATV trail in the town of Pendleton has been awfully quiet since June, but Mike Forster told me that it was my conversation with Supervisor Joel Maerten that gave him hope the trail could reopen.
“A lot of people enjoy it; we don’t want to say no. We just want to see it happen safely, and at the moment, we don’t have any other options but to turn it off,” Maerten said in June.
“Seeing that, we were like, 'hey, let’s go and talk to these people because this doesn’t sound like something that they really want to do,'” Forster said.
That answer sparked an idea in Forster and the local ATV trail, the Tri-County Trail Riders, that could save the dirt ATV trail.
The Pendleton Rail Trail runs diagonally across the Town of Pendleton from Townline Road to Lockport Road. Along the trail, there is a paved bike/walking path that runs alongside the ATV trail.
Before its closure, only residents who owned passes were permitted to use the trail.
“Instead of having the town administer the trails, the club, Tri-County Trail Riders, would administer the program,” Forster said.
After having conversations with multiple downstate counties with their own trails, Forster believes the Tri-County Trail Riders can run the trail themselves, taking the troubles out of the town’s hands.
He tells me the club would sell memberships, then use the money to buy a liability insurance policy, create/administer safety courses and enforce the rules of the trail (e.g., revoke memberships from those who break the rules). The estimated cost for riders would be $25-$45 per year.
WATCH: Riders propose plan to save Pendleton’s town-owned ATV trail
Forster liked the idea enough that he and a few other riders took the idea to the town board meeting on Monday, and Maerten told me that the group had some good points.
“The group did come forward with some good thoughts and ideas, and the town board will be considering the information and following up in the near future. The conversation will continue, and I’m pleased that we’ve been able to move past the emotions to objectively focusing on the issue.”
“I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves… I would summarize as ‘encouraging,’” Forster said.
Forster hopes that with enough work, he and other riders can return to the town ATV trail by next year.
In June, Maerten told me that the closure will take effect once the new law is filed/approved by New York State and signage is posted on the trail.
Once in place, Maerten said that the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office will be in charge of enforcement and that violators will both receive a fine and have their vehicle towed.
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