BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — People driving ATVs in Buffalo will be hit with bigger fines, and have a harder time getting their ATVs back under proposed Common Council legislation. Common Council member Richard Fontana (Lovejoy) will be presenting his ordinance at next Tuesday's Common Council meeting.
ATVs are already illegal on the streets of Buffalo and in parks. Fontana hopes the stricter punishment will be a greater deterrent.
"They're flying down Bailey, they're flying down Clinton Street just to get to Houghton Park, and it's a real problem we have here in the Kaisertown neighborhood, but this is also going on in other parts of the city," Fontana said.
The new legislation will increase fines violators face from the current range of $150-$300 to $1500-$2000. Additionally, confiscated ATVs will be sold at an auction outside the region, making it more difficult for the driver to buy it back.
He says ATVs are the number one call complaints in his Lovejoy district. Trails in the district's Houghton Park have ATV marks, despite signs strictly prohibiting the vehicle.
Mark Caliguiri lives across the street from the park, and said when the weather is nice he hears the ATVs everyday.
"It's not great to hear you know when you're sitting there minding your own business and all of a sudden you just hear that thing," he said. "You know they drive on the street, it's loud."
Fontana said if it was just the occasional person in the park it wouldn't be as great of a public issue, but this is something that has gotten out of hand.
"My message to the ATV drivers either get some land in the country, or sell the ATV," Fontana said.
He said the legislation should be on the books by December.
