Looking north for solution to city's plague of illegal ATV riders

Philadelphia used to send crap to coal country, literally, from the toilet, to the water department, to old strip mines in the mountains.

Nowadays, Philly handles its own sludge, but officials in Northumberland County are more than happy to take another mess we don't know how to handle: ATVs and dirt bikes.

Northumberland County is rolling out a 6,500-acre, boulder-strewn welcome mat for off-road enthusiasts known as the Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area. The $10 million park is being funded through a patchwork of private money and grants from some interesting sources, including a regional health care provider. Its endless miles of rocky, mining roads, narrow trails and mud holes don't officially open until next year, but just like Philly's streets 100 miles away, the AOAA's been an illegitimate playground for dirt bikes and ATVs for years.

"Oh yes, we've had illegal riding. All the time, even in the streets," said Kathy Jeremiah, the AOAA's project coordinator for Northumberland County.

The park could become a "economic engine" for the six municipalities it weaves through. Jeremiah said, and has already attracted interest from all over the country.

The AOAA isn't going to solve Philly's illegal riding issue and it's doubtful the Philly Hang Gang, the group of daring, dangerous Philly riders are anxiously awaiting its grand opening. It's a day trip at least, with entrance fees, punishing terrain, and strict safety requirements most Philly riders never adhere to. In Philly, 6,500 acres is bigger than most neighborhoods, so off-road enthusiasts say it's time to either get creative and build a legal outlet for riding here or crack down hard to end it.

"This issue isn't going away," said Vince Sanginiti Jr of Philadelphia Cycle Center on Castor Avenue in Port Richmond.

Council President Darrell Clarke's office did a little research on the ATV issue in June and found a park could be a"workable idea." "Potential benefits include revenue generation and a possible decrease of illegal ATV use on city streets," the report stated. City Council has called for hearings on the issue.

Michael DiBerardinis, commissioner of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, was a former commissioner of the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources when it helped create other popular, off-road parks in the state and open miles of state forest trails to ATVs. He doesn't think an urban park would work, and says even 200 acres would be too small.

"It would be a sorry use of public dollars to try to create (an ATV park) in a city as dense as this," he added.

Many Philly riders used to travel to Atco Raceway's former small, dirt bike track in Camden County, though, and New Jersey's planned off-road park in Woodbine is just 63-acres. Something, Sanginiti Jr. says, is better than nothing and it calls for some creative thinking. A Philly park could be unique, he said, a mix of trails and streets.

"If you gave these guys just a parking lot where they wouldn't get in trouble, they would gladly take it," Sanginiti Jr. said. "These guys don't need much land at all."

In Northumberland County, the AOAA's gotten start-up money from Geisinger Health Systems, $1.5 million from the DCNR, and Yamaha and Polaris, both off-road vehicle manufacturers are listed as "major financial partners." The park's two-dozen in-kind sponsors include magazines, law offices, and the Pennsylvania State Police.

The DCNR told the Daily News it gets requests for more riding areas on existing trails, not in urban areas, where there's always someone within earshot of a noisy ATV.

"Even in rural areas, ATV "parks" are not always well received by surrounding neighbors," spokesman Terry Brady said.

It's not clear if sponsors would come forward if a city park was proposed. The major manufacturers of ATVs and dirt bikes, at least now, want nothing to do with the riding that's done in Philly, Baltimore, and New York, or the lifestyle popularized by Philly rapper Meek Mill.

"We can't condone or promote that kind of riding," said Aimee Soto, a spokeswoman for Kawasaki said of their off-road vehicles. "We certainly don't market to this new urban culture."

Rickey Gadson, grew up riding dirt bikes in schoolyards in Southwest Philly and later became a street racing legend, making big money on illegal drag strips on Front Street. Gadson eventually went pro, becoming one the most-accomplished racers in the world, and the public face of Kawasaki's street bike division. He doesn't think Philly ATV and dirt bike riders are interested in legit riding, though.

"It's a pipe dream and I don't think it would make a difference," he said of a park. "They like riding around in the street. Dirt bikes are like ice cream now in the inner city, everybody wants to ride a dirt bike."

The city needs tougher enforcement, Gadson said, not an ATV park.

Philly Hang Gang members insist they want a place to ride, whether it's a parking lot or closed-off street, though they almost all admit they'd still ride in the street. Some say they do take trips the New Jersey and the Poconos to ride, and wouldn't be opposed to riding in Northumberland County.

"We're not trying to do the X Games," said Mook, a West Oak Lane resident and founding member of the Philly Hang Gang. "We're not going to do jumps and loops and stuff. We like to do the trail riding, that's fun to us."

Getting out to Northumberland County might be a pipe dream for Philly riders without a truck or trailer, but off-road enthusiasts say they'd be hooked in just one trip, when they unleashed their ATVs and dirt bikes through unnamed trails, miles deep into a mountain. The problem is whether they'd put the leash on when they got back home.

"This place is what these things are made for," off-road blogger Lance Schwartz told the Daily News while ripping his Polaris RZR through the AOAA Monday. "It's a blast out here."