Post by greenjeep on Feb 9, 2005 20:19:45 GMT -5
Landowners lose in public vs. private roads argument
By Kristen Moulton
The Salt Lake Tribune
BRIGHAM CITY - Landowners who are tired of all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes tearing up their property on the east side of the Wasatch Range were rebuffed Tuesday by the Box Elder County Commission.
Rancher Brett Selman of Tremonton and Skip Warren of Weber County asked the commission to drop county claims to roads the landowners always have considered private.
"They [ATV riders] do not stay on the roads," Warren said. "Where the public's rights end is where the private property begins."
But Commissioner Clark Davis defended the county's claims. The county must defend the public's access to public lands, he said.
"That's our charge," he told a crowd of about 20 landowners and 50 advocates of an ATV trail system who want the county to keep the roads open.
An ATV trail is being promoted to attract tourists. Political leaders - including the Brigham City and Perry mayors and Mantua Town Council members - like the idea that the trail one day could tie into the proposed Shoshone Trail.
Davis suggested a title investigation and survey to resolve Selman's dispute with a county-designated public road through his 7,000-acre ranch.
The commissioner also advised Warren and other property owners in the Devil's Gate Valley to follow the county's prescribed remedy: File a petition for road vacation.
Warren countered that such a request would be an admission that the road built by his great-great grandfather is a county road.
"We will not file a petition," Warren said. "There will be legal action."
County Planner Garth Day said maps dating to 1874 show the road through Devil's Gate Valley as a county road.
Landowners maintain the roads always have been marked private or have been gated, but trespassers have used them as if they were public.
There are other ways to reach the Cache National Forest than through their land, they contend. In the region, about two-thirds of the land is private and a third is national forest-owned.
Valeen Anderson, one of the property owners at Tuesday's meeting, said the county has no right to invite ATV users onto her land.
"If the county wants a playground for four-wheelers, let them buy the land," Anderson said.
But Jeff Parker, chairman of the Utah Board of Parks and Recreation and a Brigham City real estate broker, said the county merely is defending "one of our jewels - the right to use our public lands."
Parker said he is working with ATV clubs to ensure riders stay on public roads and do not destroy private property. "I am committed to help protect those" private property rights.
By Kristen Moulton
The Salt Lake Tribune
BRIGHAM CITY - Landowners who are tired of all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes tearing up their property on the east side of the Wasatch Range were rebuffed Tuesday by the Box Elder County Commission.
Rancher Brett Selman of Tremonton and Skip Warren of Weber County asked the commission to drop county claims to roads the landowners always have considered private.
"They [ATV riders] do not stay on the roads," Warren said. "Where the public's rights end is where the private property begins."
But Commissioner Clark Davis defended the county's claims. The county must defend the public's access to public lands, he said.
"That's our charge," he told a crowd of about 20 landowners and 50 advocates of an ATV trail system who want the county to keep the roads open.
An ATV trail is being promoted to attract tourists. Political leaders - including the Brigham City and Perry mayors and Mantua Town Council members - like the idea that the trail one day could tie into the proposed Shoshone Trail.
Davis suggested a title investigation and survey to resolve Selman's dispute with a county-designated public road through his 7,000-acre ranch.
The commissioner also advised Warren and other property owners in the Devil's Gate Valley to follow the county's prescribed remedy: File a petition for road vacation.
Warren countered that such a request would be an admission that the road built by his great-great grandfather is a county road.
"We will not file a petition," Warren said. "There will be legal action."
County Planner Garth Day said maps dating to 1874 show the road through Devil's Gate Valley as a county road.
Landowners maintain the roads always have been marked private or have been gated, but trespassers have used them as if they were public.
There are other ways to reach the Cache National Forest than through their land, they contend. In the region, about two-thirds of the land is private and a third is national forest-owned.
Valeen Anderson, one of the property owners at Tuesday's meeting, said the county has no right to invite ATV users onto her land.
"If the county wants a playground for four-wheelers, let them buy the land," Anderson said.
But Jeff Parker, chairman of the Utah Board of Parks and Recreation and a Brigham City real estate broker, said the county merely is defending "one of our jewels - the right to use our public lands."
Parker said he is working with ATV clubs to ensure riders stay on public roads and do not destroy private property. "I am committed to help protect those" private property rights.