It would seem to be common sense to most that it is against the law to ride ATVs on private property without permission of the owner...
It would seem to be common sense to most that it is against the law to ride ATVs on private property without permission of the owner.
But, apparently, a lot of ATV riders don’t consider the long strips of land under power lines on Camelot Lane in Chester Township private property.
They come out from Cleveland suburbs with trucks and trailers, unload their four-wheel toys and roar along the wide spaces kept clear of undergrowth by the Illuminating Company.
Larry Komidar owns two parcels on Camelot Lane. His house is on one and the Illuminating Company has an easement across his acreage next door.
Despite the “No Trespassing” signs he has posted across the dirt road to the giant steel towers carrying the power lines, people continue to use the property for recreation, he said in a recent phone interview.
“It’s been going on quite a few years, but it’s ramped up quite a bit recently,” he said. “I don’t give anybody permission to go on my property. It’s a liability. The insurance company won’t even cover it.”
Komidar said the Chester Township police have been good about coming when he calls about the trespassing, but unless he can get the ATV drivers to stop and listen, there is only so much officers can do.
Chester Police Chief Mark Purchase said trying to chase an ATV down the power lines is risky.
“It’s not worth wrecking a police car,” he said, adding it is a long way to go around the block to try to head them off at the next street.
As Komidar said, once the riders see a cruiser on the road, they can just turn around and speed back the other way.
He said he keeps the front part of his property under the power lines mowed and some of the joy riders tear across the lawn, as well, turfing it in response to his signs and, when he manages to get them to stop, his explanation about the law and property rights is not always well-received.
“They ride donuts — they think they should have free access,” Komidar said.
Usually, when asked, adult riders will leave, but teens can be confrontational and other damage has been done to properties belonging to those who object.
One driveway was spray-painted and nails were scattered across another homeowner’s access, he said.
His signs are often torn down and a neighbor’s fence was destroyed by an ATV, Komidar said.
Once, when he managed to find the trespassers, he saw the ATV trailer had a license plate from Mayfield Heights. Another time, when a truck got stuck under the lines, the trespassers were from Gates Mills, he said.
Komidar said he is concerned someone will get hurt while racing around the rough terrain.
“The trails are not safe. You never see these kids with helmets on,” he said, adding they shoot across Camelot without checking for traffic.
A retired law enforcement officer, Komidar said he was involved with the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Explorer program and he enjoyed working with youth.
But when he does try to talk calmly and reasonably to the ATV riders about the possible consequences of trespassing, he is rebuffed.
“One said, ‘I’m gonna burn your house down.’ He was 15,” Komidar said.
Purchase recommended property owners not confront ATV riders, but if someone can take video of the activities or pictures of license plates, the culprits sometimes can be tracked down and warned.
“Video helps, especially when things get damaged,” he said, recalling how the greens on a former golf course were torn up. “It’s all evidence a law enforcement officer would want if they were developing a case.”
While property owners often look the other way when ATVs roar past, Purchase urged people to call in and report the incident.
Even if the riders can’t be caught in the act, there may be other actions taken to discourage them from their illegal activities, he said.
It’s not just utility easements that attract ATV riders.
Any large area that isn’t observed or patrolled may well develop ATV trails winding through the brush, said Roy Podojil, a member of the Russell Township Citizens Park Board.
The power lines extend through Russell and provide access to 125 acres of township trustees-owned property located just south of the north township line.
Podojil said the five parcels are heavily wooded and the township has left them fallow for decades.
“People assume we abandoned it,” he said.
Neighbors tend to treat the acreage as extensions of their back yards, Podojil said. “There’s been a substantial amount of encroachment,” he said.
The park board wants to establish minimally-invasive community programs for the woods, which has some interesting history.
The Western Reserve Land Conservancy has an easement on the property and also doesn’t want the green space to be abused by ATVs or be a dumping area for lawn refuse, Podojil said.
“It really needs to be controlled,” he said adding, as a green space, the boundaries of the park need to be respected.
