[Adopted 6-6-1978 by L.L. No. 6-1978; amended in its entirety 8-8-2024 by L.L. No. 6-2024]
This Part 2 shall be known and may be cited as the "Yorktown All-Terrain Vehicle and Off-Highway Motorcycle Law."
The Town Board of the Town of Yorktown recognizes the potential adverse impact on the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of the Town of Yorktown, and to property within the Town by the use of motorized, all-terrain vehicles and off-highway motorcycles, and therefore, deems it appropriate to control the use of said all-terrain vehicles and off-highway motorcycles.
For the purpose of this Part 2, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
As defined in § 2281(1) of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law. For the avoidance of doubt, "all-terrain vehicles" is intended to encompass all recreational motorized vehicles with more than two wheels, including but not limited to those commonly referred to as "ATVs," "RTVs," UTVs," "quads," "go-carts," "side-by-sides," "SxSs," "SSVs," and/or "dune buggies."
As defined in § 125-a of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law. For the avoidance of doubt, "off-highway motorcycles" is intended to encompass motorized vehicles commonly referred to as "trail bikes," "mini-bikes," "motocross" or "dirt bikes," but is not intended to encompass electric scooters as defined in § 114-e of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law or bicycles with electric assist as defined in § 102-c of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law.
All streets, sidewalks, easements, rights-of-way or any other areas dedicated or commonly used for vehicular or pedestrian traffic, including any real property situated within the Town of Yorktown which is used for educational purposes or purposes incidental thereto.
All parks, recreation areas, trails, ball parks, lake areas, storage facilities, garage areas, parking areas and any and all other Town-owned land and premises.
It shall be unlawful for any person to operate any all-terrain vehicles or off-road motorcycles upon any public property or Town-owned land in the Town of Yorktown. It shall also be unlawful for any person to operate any registered motor vehicle, including but not limited to jeeps, 4x4s and trucks, on any off-road trail within any Town park.
The operation of an all-terrain vehicle or off-highway motorcycle is prohibited upon private property unless the operator of said all-terrain vehicle or off-highway motorcycle has the written consent of the owner of said private property to operate said vehicle on said property on said operator's person.
A.
No person shall cause any motor vehicle which is not properly registered and which does not have properly affixed license plates to be parked on or in any public area or any private property accessible to the public within the Town of Yorktown (specifically, including but not limited to all Town-owned parking lots, all Town parks, all shopping center parking lots, all office building parking lots accessible to the public, all store parking lots accessible to the public, and all business parking lots accessible to the public) for a continuous period of 96 hours. Such motor vehicle may be removed after 96 hours. Each 24 hours that such a vehicle remains in such parking area, lot, property or park, beyond the initial 96 hours, shall constitute an additional, separate and distinct offense.
B.
If said motor vehicle remains parked for the stated continuous period of 96 hours, the Yorktown Police Department may have such vehicle removed and impounded and charge the owner thereof for all costs of removal and storage, along with the applicable fines. If the vehicle so removed is not redeemed, or if the applicable fines and costs of removal are not paid within 30 days after the levy of the fines or after notice to the owner that the vehicle has been removed is received by the owner, whichever is sooner, the Town may undertake to sell the vehicle at public auction.
A.
It shall be unlawful to operate any motorized vehicle in a manner so as to create loud, unnecessary or unusual noise which disturbs or interferes with the peace and quiet of other persons. It shall be unlawful to operate any all-terrain vehicles or off-highway motorcycles between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m.
B.
It shall also be unlawful to: flee from any employee of the Town of Yorktown or a law enforcement agency while operating an all-terrain vehicle or off-highway motorcycle; and to operate an all-terrain vehicle or off-highway motorcycle in violation of any statues, rules, or regulations promulgated by the Department of Motor Vehicles.
It shall be unlawful to operate any all-terrain vehicle or off-highway motorcycle in a careless, reckless or negligent manner so as to endanger the safety of any person or the property of any person.
It shall not be unlawful for any employee of the Town of Yorktown or police, emergency or other government personnel to operate all-terrain vehicles or off-highway motorcycles for the purpose of maintaining, repairing or doing any public work within the scope of their employment or duties.
It shall be unlawful for the parent, guardian or any person having the care, custody and control of any child under the age of 18 years to knowingly permit such child to operate an all-terrain vehicle or off-highway motorcycle in violation of the terms of this Part 2.
Whenever any child under the age of 18 years is alleged to have violated this Part 2, the parent, guardian or any person having the care, custody or control of the child may be notified by the Chief of Police or any person designated by the Chief of Police to give such notice. Such notification may be: (1) by registered mail, return receipt requested; (2) given personally, verbally, or in writing; or (3) in another manner with a sufficient guarantee of identity trustworthiness, in all cases to the parent, guardian or person having the care, custody or control of the child setting forth the date, time, place and manner of the alleged violation. In the event of an alleged second or subsequent violation of this Part 2, proof of a prior notification as herein provided shall constitute prima facie evidence that the parent, guardian or any person having the care, custody or control of the child did knowingly permit said child to operate a vehicle in violation of this Part 2.
A violation of any provision of this Part 2 shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $500 for a first offense, and not to exceed $1,000 for each subsequent offense. These fees shall be in addition to any costs of impounding as set forth in § 275-37 and/or the costs of any property damage resulting from a violation of any provision of this Part 2. In addition, any such violation shall constitute disorderly conduct and an operator violating same shall be a disorderly person.
In addition to the penalties set forth in § 275-36, the Town of Yorktown Police Department may impound any vehicle used in violating this Part 2. The owner or duly designated agent of the owner of such vehicle may regain the same by payment of the costs necessarily and actually incurred by the removal of said vehicle; however, no impounded vehicle shall be released from impoundment during an active investigation unless the person requesting the release obtains a court order requiring the release of the vehicle. If the vehicle so removed is not redeemed, or if the applicable costs of removal are not paid within 30 days after the levy of the fines or after notice to the owner that the vehicle has been removed is received by the owner, whichever is sooner, the Town may undertake to sell the vehicle at public auction.