There were some other clubs and other club members, (some former BMJA officers in fact), some came from as far as 3 hours away maybe even farther. We were NOT unrepresented. Honestly, I think it will go through. There is
at least one county official that is against it, but my feeling is the crowd was guardedly for the park. We need to get more involved not only to see this through but the fact that DCNR is using this as a "study" for opening up state owned and controlled lands. We were told that the next meeting and any news would be posted to the counties web site.
http://www.ohv.norrycopa.net/ take notice that the ATV crowd grabbed the spot light, I for one don't want a new ATV park I want a multiuse JEEP, and atv park.
Below is a news article:
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/4350108"(Source: The News-Item)trackingBy Justin Strawser, The News-Item, Shamokin, Pa.
July 28--COAL TOWNSHIP -- More than 300 local and out-of-town residents attended the Northumberland County Planning Department's first public meeting Tuesday night regarding the off-highway park with most positive feedback.
http://newsitem.com/COAL TOWNSHIP - More than 300 local and out-of-town residents attended the Northumberland County Planning Department's first public meeting Tuesday night regarding the off-highway park with most positive feedback.
"This park is an unprecedented opportunity to revolutionize" off-highway activities, said Dave Miller after the presentation at the Shamokin Area Middle-High School auditorium.
Miller is the president of the Lehigh Valley ATV Association, of Allentown, who came to the public meeting to show his support for the county to develop more than 6,000 acres of county-owned property to create the park.
The park would provide responsible recreational opportunities for motorized recreational vehicles, such as 4x4s, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcross and snowmobiles, and for non-motorized purposes, such as hiking, biking, horseback riding, hunting and camping.
The goal of the meeting, said John O. Buerkle Jr., of Pashek Associates - a recreation planning firm hired by the county to create a master plan - was to gather questions, concerns and desires from the public. Each suggestion would be carefully considered and placed into the master plan.
"The master plan is not the means to the end, but a road map leading to the implementation," he said.
Lack of trails
According to Miller, there is a lack of trail-riding opportunities for ATVs in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. There are 2,400 snowmobile trails and 240 ATV trails in the state, and only 10 percent of those trails are in the eastern part of the state.
"We're hungry for additional trail miles," said Miller.
Miller believes that the increase in legal riding opportunities will decrease the illegal riding on public and private property that local police departments are not equipped to address.
Miller also said the coal lands being suggested in Coal Township and Zerbe Township have terrain and trail diversity, natural sites and scenery and geological diversity. It will also provide other opportunities for on-site camping and education centers.
"It will be a fantastic destination for families," he said.
Rather than traveling to other sites, people will be spending money in the local area and would attract riders from out of state, a point driven home by the people who traveled several hours to the meeting.
When Buerkle was done with the presentation, he spent a half hour addressing the concerns of the public. Each person had a minute to express any concerns verbally, or to hand in a note card with questions or suggestions.
Concerns included involving local rider enthusiasts and hunters/fishers in the planning process, the liability of the park, difficulty levels, the cost to the local residents, maintenance of current access points, the protection and preservation of local geological sites, the impact on wildlife and the strain on local police departments.
"It went well," said Buerkle after the meeting. "We had good impact from both sides. We need to make sure these are the right concerns."
The meeting had a large turnout, one of the largest he's ever seen for a public venue, he said.
It proves that "there's a demand not being met," he said.
Not only would the riders' needs be met, it would also provide secondary benefits, including a boost to the local economy through hotels, garages and restaurants.
"When people travel four to five hours, they're not going to stay an hour. They'll spend the weekend," he said.
The sites being considered have the opportunity to become not only a state attraction, but an east coast and possibly a national one as well, explained Buerkle.
Nearly 40 different vehicle clubs on the east coast are following the project as well as a national off-road club in California, he said.
"It's had real exposure even at the initial planning stage," he said.
Not everyone was keen on the county bringing the park to fruition.
"I'm totally against it," said Rich Lahr, of Coal Township, who worked at Fleetwood Enterprises, in Paxinos, for 30 years before it closed down.
He wants the commissioners to focus their attention on bringing larger, more industry-based jobs to the area instead of the current project.
"Is this the best the commissioners can come up with?" he asked.
An ATV rider and an avid hunter and sportsman, Lahr argued that local residents have used the land all their lives and the park project will require them to pay for off-road activities they've enjoyed for free.
"We took it for granted and now they're taking away our freedom," he said.
This was the first of two public input sessions being held during the master planning process of the park. A follow-up meeting will be held in the fall.
The master plan is being funded with grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. The plan is being prepared by Pashek Associates, a landscape architecture and community planning firm located in Pittsburgh, in conjunction with Pennoni Associates, Mechanicsburg.
"This park is an unprecedented opportunity to revolutionize" off-highway activities, said Dave Miller after the presentation at the Shamokin Area Middle-High School auditorium.
Miller is the president of the Lehigh Valley ATV Association, of Allentown, who came to the public meeting to show his support for the county to develop more than 6,000 acres of county-owned property to create the park.
The park would provide responsible recreational opportunities for motorized recreational vehicles, such as 4x4s, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcross and snowmobiles, and for non-motorized purposes, such as hiking, biking, horseback riding, hunting and camping.
The goal of the meeting, said John O. Buerkle Jr., of Pashek Associates -- a recreation planning firm hired by the county to create a master plan -- was to gather questions, concerns and desires from the public. Each suggestion would be carefully considered and placed into the master plan.
"The master plan is not the means to the end, but a road map leading to the implementation," he said.
Lack of trails
According to Miller, there is a lack of trail-riding opportunities for ATVs in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. There are 2,400 snowmobile trails and 240 ATV trails in the state, and only 10 percent of those trails are in the eastern part of the state.
"We're hungry for additional trail miles," said Miller.
Miller believes that the increase in legal riding opportunities will decrease the illegal riding on public and private property that local police departments are not equipped to address.
Miller also said the coal lands being suggested in Coal Township and Zerbe Township have terrain and trail diversity, natural sites and scenery and geological diversity. It will also provide other opportunities for on-site camping and education centers.
"It will be a fantastic destination for families," he said.
Rather than traveling to other sites, people will be spending money in the local area and would attract riders from out of state, a point driven home by the people who traveled several hours to the meeting.
When Buerkle was done with the presentation, he spent a half hour addressing the concerns of the public. Each person had a minute to express any concerns verbally, or to hand in a note card with questions or suggestions.
Concerns included involving local rider enthusiasts and hunters/fishers in the planning process, the liability of the park, difficulty levels, the cost to the local residents, maintenance of current access points, the protection and preservation of local geological sites, the impact on wildlife and the strain on local police departments.
"It went well," said Buerkle after the meeting. "We had good impact from both sides. We need to make sure these are the right concerns."
The meeting had a large turnout, one of the largest he's ever seen for a public venue, he said.
It proves that "there's a demand not being met," he said.
Not only would the riders' needs be met, it would also provide secondary benefits, including a boost to the local economy through hotels, garages and restaurants.
"When people travel four to five hours, they're not going to stay an hour. They'll spend the weekend," he said.
The sites being considered have the opportunity to become not only a state attraction, but an east coast and possibly a national one as well, explained Buerkle.
Nearly 40 different vehicle clubs on the east coast are following the project as well as a national off-road club in California, he said.
"It's had real exposure even at the initial planning stage," he said.
Not everyone was keen on the county bringing the park to fruition.
"I'm totally against it," said Rich Lahr, of Coal Township, who worked at Fleetwood Enterprises, in Paxinos, for 30 years before it closed down.
He wants the commissioners to focus their attention on bringing larger, more industry-based jobs to the area instead of the current project.
"Is this the best the commissioners can come up with?" he asked.
An ATV rider and an avid hunter and sportsman, Lahr argued that local residents have used the land all their lives and the park project will require them to pay for off-road activities they've enjoyed for free.
"We took it for granted and now they're taking away our freedom," he said.
This was the first of two public input sessions being held during the master planning process of the park. A follow-up meeting will be held in the fall.
The master plan is being funded with grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. The plan is being prepared by Pashek Associates, a landscape architecture and community planning firm located in Pittsburgh, in conjunction with Pennoni Associates, Mechanicsburg.
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