The purpose of this chapter is to control the recreational use
of off-highway vehicles, as hereinafter defined, within the Village
of Oakfield in order to prevent injury to persons and property; to
protect the rights of the residents of the Village of Oakfield to
the peaceful enjoyment of their properties; and to generally promote
the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of said Village.
The Village Board of the Village of Oakfield, New York, hereby
finds as follows:
A. The recreational use of various forms of two-, three- and four-wheel
off-highway motorized vehicles has dramatically increased within the
Village of Oakfield, New York.
B. The operators of these vehicles have repeatedly entered upon private
property without permission or consent and in numerous instances have
caused serious damage to those properties; in many cases it has been
impossible to identify or apprehend the offenders because of the speed
at which these vehicles travel.
C. Said vehicles have often been operated on Village sidewalks, causing
the disruption of pedestrian traffic and creating a substantial threat
of personal injury.
D. On numerous occasions said vehicles have been operated at high speeds
in a reckless and dangerous manner, creating a substantial threat
of serious physical injury to persons within the Village, especially
to children living in residential areas.
E. Many of said recreational vehicles create loud and offensive noise
for long periods of time, which disrupts the peaceful enjoyment of
residential properties within the Village.
F. The control and regulation of said vehicles is necessary to protect
the health, safety and welfare of the people and property within the
Village of Oakfield, the need for such regulation by far outweighing
the slight intrusion created thereby.
[Amended 4-23-2001 by L.L. No. 1-2001]
A. Unless
the context requires otherwise, words used in the present tense include
the future, words in the masculine gender include the feminine and
neuter, the singular number includes the plural, and the plural the
singular.
B. As used
in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
Includes a county, city, town, village, school district,
fire district or a special or improvement district of a county or
town.
OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE
Any vehicle propelled by other than muscular power having
two or more wheels in contact or a single belt or track connected
by belt or sprocket to a motor with the ground, not designed primarily
for use on the highway, including snowmobiles and excluding farm vehicles,
lawn mowers, snowblowers, snowplows, snow throwers, farm, lawn and
garden tractors and other similar equipment designed primarily for
property upkeep and maintenance and not for recreational use, and
also excluding vehicles owned or operated by any municipal corporation
or police agency or operated at the request or order of an officer
or employee thereof.
OPERATOR
Every person who operates or is in actual possession or physical
control of an off-highway vehicle.
PERSON
Includes any individual, partnership, corporation, association
or any body of persons, whether incorporated or not.
POLICE AGENCY
Any public police or public law enforcement agency, whether
federal, state or municipal.
VILLAGE
The Village of Oakfield, Genesee County, New York.
[Amended 4-23-2001 by L.L. No. 1-2001]
Any person found in violation of any provision of this chapter
shall be guilty of an offense and, upon conviction, shall be subject
to a fine of not more than $500.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part of this
chapter shall be adjudged by any court to be invalid, such judgment
shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof, but
shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,
section or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which
such judgment shall have been rendered.