The City of Shelton has invested as a municipality in preserving and conserving land in town for various purposes. In either case, the land may be providing lasting natural habitat, historic preservation, passive recreation, buffer between development and habitats, agricultural purposes, and passive or active recreational needs in form of hiking trails or sports fields. Some of these areas are "permanently protected open space" via deed restriction, and some conservation projects received funding from grants at the state or federal level which came with and easements on what activity can be conducted upon the lands.
All of these areas come under the umbrella of being designated as "City of Shelton Open Space", and as such the City of Shelton has an ordinance as to what can occur on the properties. Notably, motorized vehicles (excepting for official vehicles) are prohibited as the very first item.
A property labeled "Birchbank Mountain" was purchased by Shelton in 1998 as protection to the Housatonic River Greenway near the Indian Well State Park and well-field area of the Aquarion Water Company (fka Bridgeport Hydraulic). It was a class 3 watershed property purchased from Bridgeport Hydraulic as part of a 500 acre purchase assembled around the city (this was before the State of CT did a similar action with the balance of class 3 watershed properties that BHC owned around the state). It is a unique ecological property as it contains sandy soil from the formation of the Housatonic River (thus the nearby public water well-field), it is easterly facing at the toe of a long bank and is in the shadow most of the day, it receives seepage of moisture from the hillside, and contains historic roadbeds that served to access White Hills before the present day Rte110 was constructed. It is a very special piece of preserved property.
This area has received significant ATV activity in violation of the City ordinance, and numerous State Statutes. Unique vegetation given the environmental conditions mentioned was being damaged, and the sandy soil when disturbed continuously by ATV's in a single area leaves it prone to erosion. The City's investment in the valued parcel of land was being damaged.
A significant area of Open Space known as the Shelton Lakes Greenway has numerous trails enjoyed by residents and visitors (all open space and trails in Shelton is open to anyone for free and there is no resident requirement or permit needed). ATV and motorcycle use has caused erosion issues that need correction due to the hazard created for hikers. On SatAug28, 2010, a scout group encountered ATV's and dirtbikes racing down the trail toward them, creating a hazardous situation in violation of the law.
Certain open space properties where agricultural use occurs via lease to farmers have had damage to crops by careless ATV use through the field. This causes loss of value in the harvest of the crop.
ATV users have blatantly violated the state law and local ordinances, repeatedly, on numerous parcels of land owned by the City. These violations have caused ecological and economic damage and must be addressed by the proper authorities.
Working with the police department, we are asking that people enjoying the Open Space for passive recreation purposes, or nearby residents to Open Space parcels, or simply anyone who sees a violation - snap a photo on your cellphone and send it to the Conservation Commission's Conservation Agent via email or to our facebook page. The documentation will allow police to follow up with enforcement of state statutes.
Those who use ATV's, snowmobiles, or dirt bikes (collectively known as off-road vehicles) would do well to also visit the DEP webpage on the subject.
As an off-road vehicle owner myself (Polaris ATV and sled), I recognize the difficulty when other states (MA, ME, NH, VT, NY) do not recognize a CT registration of the off-road vehicle. With no State owned lands in which to ride, there is little incentive to register the vehicle in CT. These are State issues that should be worked on by legislators to give recognition for CT registrations at out-of-state locations, and by the CT DEP to provide suitable areas for riding within CT.
The closest legal alternative is the nearby riding areas of Pittsfield or Otis MA
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