COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC HEARING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY - - - Room 401, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Tuesday, June 15, 1999 1:10 p.m. - - - Bill 990198 - - - - PRESENT: COUNCILMAN ANGEL ORTIZ, Chairman COUNCILMAN DAVID COHEN COUNCILMAN FRANK DI CICCO COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO - - - VINCENT VARALLO ASSOCIATES, INC. Registered Professional Reporters Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 (215) 561-2220 I N D E X BILL NO. 990198 PAGE RICHARD DE MARCO ............................ FRANCIS HEALY, Police Department ............. 10 JAMES WELDON, Police Department .............. 15 JAMES DONAGHY, Fairmount Park Commission ..... 21 NANCY GOLDENBERG, Fairmount Park Commission .. 23 BRAD THOMPSON, Academy of Natural Sciences ... 26 SAM RICKS, Town Watch ........................ 32 LEN PANARELLA, Friends of Elmwood Park ........ 37 RAYMOND WARWICK, Town Watch .................. 41 FRED MALLARD, Tacony Creek Park .............. 43 - - - 3 BILL NO. 990198
Having Jim Kenney, Frank Rizzo and David Cohen, Frank DiCicco here, the Committee of Public Safety public hearing followed by a public meeting on Bill 990198. This is an ordinance amending Chapter 12-1600 of the Philadelphia Code entitled Special Restrictions Upon Use of Vehicles In Areas Under the Control Of The Fairmount Park Commission." I believe we have testimony. Identify yourself for the record.
My name is Richard DeMarco. My title is Staff Attorney for Council President Anna Verna. She asked me to just say a few words on behalf of this bill in her stead. And again, I apologize for my attire. I like to show the proper respect when I can.
Okay. Just a preface as to why we're here and where this bill comes from we had many complaints about the use of all-terrain vehicles on Fairmount Park property. They chew up the grass. And our police correspondent who deals with the Police Department received many complaints 4 BILL NO. 990198 from some of the friends groups of some of the park groups in our district. And after researching into this problem, which is the use of all-terrain vehicles on grass and park property, that's where the idea of this bill came. And what we found out when we looked into it was that it was merely a parking ticket.
If I may, all-terrain vehicles are prohibited, illegal, anywhere in the City of Philadelphia.
One of the things that -- because we have the same problem in Fairmount Park in terms of the Hunting Park area and Ninth Street. And we worked out an arrangement and we asked the captains and inspectors of 25th and 26th at that time, and they actually began implementing this policy that they didn't give a ticket, they just took the vehicle away' they confiscated the vehicle. And I want to know -- when the Police Department comes in, I want to know whether they are confiscating those vehicles or not. Because that is one of the things that has to be done. It isn't 5 BILL NO. 990198 just to prohibit, but a confiscation of the vehicles. We don't need legislation here to do that. Go ahead.
We don't need to. We can do that with current legislation on the record.
Right, exactly. Again, this bill merely adds some teeth to the fine provisions. It will increase the fine, which is right now from what I understand from the Police Department -- there are people from the Police Department to testify -- is that the actual violation is a $35 fine and that's it. There's no 16 provision for parental responsibility or anything like that. The idea of this bill is to put on some more teeth into it when officers do make an arrest based on this violation, they can instead of what amounts to writing a parking ticket, they can write a $100 fine.
We should also write the $100 fine and confiscate the vehicle.
I agree. Also, Mr. Chairman, the bill will add parental responsibility 6 BILL NO. 990198 since our understanding of the problem is that it is committed most of the time by minors, individuals who are minors, so we have a parental responsibility clause in the bill.
That's really all I want to say. There was one other thing I want to mention. There was an issue brought up about recreation property. And recreation property is not included in this bill, and that's something that the Law Department is working on now because there is some recreation property, I think, where this problem is an occurring. However, most of the complaints that we got which engendered this bill 17 deal with Fairmount Park properties. It's not a cure-all, but --
The biggest problem is Fairmount Park. All across the City, like I said Hunting Park and so on.
I'm glad you brought 7 BILL NO. 990198 that up, Mr. Chairman. I know that this is a problem in Fairmount Park, but I think we've got a problem on the streets of the City of Philadelphia. I was on Lehigh Avenue just a few days ago, and four all-terrain vehicles blew the red light in the opposite side of the street and they had to be doing 50, 60 miles an hour, unlicensed vehicles, so I'm curious was the Police Department's doing about it. I think the police officers out there are so conditioned to it, there was a police car parked on the corner, and I said to myself, this officer is going to have to go after these all-terrain vehicles, they just continued on their way and the police car didn't move.
Well, if that was 25th and 26th, they're supposed to stop them and confiscate that vehicle anywhere they find them.
In my opinion, the Police Department would have a very difficult time ever stopping those types of vehicles.
They've done. Captain Colorudo (ph) in started doing it, and within a 24 short period of time, they had like 20 all-terrain 25 vehicles that they confiscated, not just in the 8 BILL NO. 990198 park, but on the street of Fifth Street and North Philadelphia. What we need to begin doing is just enforcing the laws we have right now on the books. But confiscating of the vehicles has to be essential if we're going to resolve this problem. And it's adults also, it's not just kids. The ones that you saw probably were because they use them in North Philadelphia as a drug dealer's lookout. They are the individuals on those things that roam around and see where the police are and are able to inform the corner drug dealer where the cops are at what point and where. So we should be able if we enforce the law we should be able without the fine just taking the vehicles. Those vehicle cost a few thousand dollars, so I would imagine that's much harder than a hundred dollar fine. Thank you. Sergeant James Weldon. Councilman Nutter, you have a question?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was trying to figure out in the new section, the new section appears to be 12-1604 number 2. I was trying to figure out from reading that particular section how does that bill 9 BILL NO. 990198 particularly relate to or primarily relate to the all-terrain vehicles.
It doesn't mention the all-terrain vehicles, but the vehicle that is of choice in Fairmount Park, as I've seen it, and I imagine these are the complaints that have gotten to President Verna's office, have been of the use of these vehicles in Fairmount Park.
The larger view of the world is, we're increasing penalty for anybody driving or parking any motor vehicle on the grass ball field, picnic ground and we are adding a new provision to deal with --
You're increasing the fine for violating, number one; and creating a new parental responsibility section to deal with people who are under the age of 18 who, in your words, are the primary users of the ATV vehicles. 10 BILL NO. 990198
Well, according to the complaints that have gotten to Councilwoman Verna's office. But I see it in Hunting Park, on Ninth Street.
And I've seen guys of all ages in these all-terrain vehicles. But the point I was making before was that these vehicles can be confiscate had right now. And it seems that in Fairmount Park they are not being confiscated. I believe we can confiscate them plus the fine. Sergeant James Weldon, please.
If you please, sir, my name is my Frank Healy, I'm special advisor to Police Commissioner Timoney. I was asked to testify in support of this bill. To my right is Sergeant Weldon. He's the State certified expert in our off-road dirt bike program. I brought him along just as his expertise in the park and in that area. We have an officer who actually primarily dedicates his time to this issue, however, he had dental surgery today so he was unable to make it. If it please the Council, I could read his 11 BILL NO. 990198 statement if that's acceptable. And after that --
My name is Francis Healy, H-e-a-l-y, special advisor to the police commissioner. If it please, I could read the statement and then both of us answer any questions you have.
This is a statement of Officer Zakrewski, Z-a-k-r-e-w-s-k-i, Badge No. 13 3089, assigned to the 35th District. "Over the past several years when I was assigned to the 2nd District and currently to the 35th District, I've had numerous encounters regarding the operation of all-terrain vehicles within the Tacony Park and surrounding area. "Currently the state and local laws are in place authorizing the police to enforce violations pertaining to these vehicles, however, the difficulty comes in apprehending the violators. Because of the ATV's design, speed, and turning capability, it is almost fruitless for police to engage in even a prudent pursuit with conventional 12 BILL NO. 990198 patrol vehicles. "In a park environment, the operators of ATVs will elude police by driving through narrow paths, up steep grades, between trees, bushes and rocks where a patrol car, even a four-wheel drive patrol vehicle, would risk being damaged, or worse jeopardize the safety of the officer attempting to stop the violator. "On the street, ATV operators also disregard the safety of the public by weaving in and out of traffic, not stopping for traffic signals, as well as driving on the sidewalks. The attempt of chasing would only add to the danger of the public. "The reckless manner in which these vehicles are operated in a park setting causes severe damage to the already-sensitive ecosystem of the forest habitat. Further, it disturbs people who seek the peaceful serenity of a natural setting. There are incidents where people, as they are walking through the park, have been struck or forced suddenly to dodge those ATVs which abruptly come upon them at high speed. "Frequently, several ATVs are brought to Tacony Park by flat bed trucks or trailers. There 13 BILL NO. 990198 is a pack of approximately three to seven violators causing havoc and destruction in this park. On one occasion while on patrol in Tacony Park, I became a victim when two ATVs approached my vehicle head-on attempting to flee pass by going to either side of my patrol car. In doing so, one operator struck an obstruction causing the ATV to flip sending both the vehicle and the driver into the air with both landing on the hood of my patrol car. He was apprehended and issued tickets. "Over the past several years, I've issued over 200 tickets pertaining to ATVs, which are not only applicable to ATV law, but also included most cases no driver's license, no 16 registration, no insurance, et cetera. Since my assignment to the 35th District, in addition to writing tickets, I now confiscate the ATVs for investigation for actual owners. This is done in part that some of these vehicles may be stolen. Some are repainted and/or the vehicle identification numbers are covered or obscured. In other cases, the titles are not properly transferred when it is resold. My success rate is about out of every encounters. This is due to the driver either 14 BILL NO. 990198 stalling out in an attempt to elude being stopped or getting cornered in an area where he can not get out of the way. "At this time, I've heard complaints about the operators of ATVs not only from park organizations, but also from the general public who will put up with these vehicles being driven recklessly on the streets in various areas of the City. "Solutions to resolve this problem can be accomplished by higher fines and more accountability by parents who allow their children to drive these vehicles." That concludes his statement.
If he has had 200 encounters, I want to know if he's confiscated 200 ATVs, because I think they're illegal. I don't care whether they're owned. They don't need to be stolen. What Inspector O'Conner said to me of the 25th, is that they're illegal and they can stop anybody with an ATV on the street and take that ATV away.
I believe what we can do is we can confiscate to investigate the vehicle to see 15 BILL NO. 990198 whether or not it's stolen or not stolen.
But even if it's owned, you can confiscate it because it is not allowable within the confines of the County of Philadelphia. SERGEANT WELDON: Councilman, my name is Sergeant Weldon, W-e-l-d-o-n. I've been involved with the off-road motorcycle program since 1992. I currently supervise a program out in Fairmount Park where we operate four dual purpose 250 cc Kawasaki motorcycles. One of the specific purposes of the patrol that we have out there is to eliminate the abuses that ATVs cause out in Fairmount Park in the Wissahickon Valley. But to counter what you're saying, the ATVs are not illegal. You can own an ATV, you can operate it on private property in the City of Philadelphia. There's nothing --
On private property. But if you take it outside of your private property, you can confiscate that vehicle. SERGEANT WELDON: If the ATV is legally owned, it has got a license tag which is issued by the State, a licensed sticker for the tail fins or the cowling and there's a title and it's owned and the operator's got helmets and goggles on, the only 16 BILL NO. 990198 thing you can do to him right now is give him tickets. There is a 7700 series in our motor vehicle code which covers the illegal operation of the operation on a highway or in different areas throughout the City where TVRs, tickets, are issued and fines are given. However, if the vehicle is owned and operated, legally owned and titled, you have no right to confiscate that vehicle. There is nothing in the law right now which covers confiscation due to its being ridden on the streets of Philadelphia.
Well, I'd like to request that you request the Administration to get me a legal opinion on that. Ask the Commissioner, because the information I got from the captain of 25th and the captain of 26th and the inspector was that they could confiscate them, and they did. We had confiscated over 1720 ATVs in Hunting Park. SERGEANT WELDON: I will tell you this, Councilman, we do confiscate them, but they are returned. If I confiscate your ATV and take it to the pound and you show up that afternoon with the proper paperwork that says you're the owner of that ATV, you take that ATV away. It's yours. 17 BILL NO. 990198
Because if we confiscate them not illegal, then I would like to really make it illegal and make it be able to confiscate the ATV vehicle right then and there on the spot if they're riding them in the park. Councilman Kenney.
Can you legally register them in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania? Can you get legal registration sticker and license plate? SERGEANT WELDON: You don't get a license plate as you would for a motor vehicle like an automobile. You get a sticker, a four or five digit sticker that is affixed to the plastic cowling of the back of the ATV.
But they're not legal to be ridden in Philadelphia. SERGEANT WELDON: They're legal to be ridden on the streets of Philadelphia, no, sir they're not.
How do they transport it? Do they have to transport it on a truck? SERGEANT WELDON: To be honest with you, 18 BILL NO. 990198 Councilman, I don't know because I'm not there when they recover it. Usually, when I've been involved th confiscations where you get someone who says, "I own it, I have the title at home, I have at paperwork," we take it into the district, they show up minutes later with the paperwork, they have to 8 pickup truck or a van to take the vehicle away. We 9 don't allow them to ride it away. However, it goes 10 right back to where it was prior to us confiscating it. The only thing that we have at our availability is the issuance TVRs.
Sir, I have a copy of an all-terrain vehicle registration if you'd like to see it.
I understand. Get me the legal opinion because we may want to amend this ordinance.
Part of the problem is I don't thing we would be able to make them illegal in Philadelphia unless the Commonwealth makes them illegal in Philadelphia County only.
I think we might be able to confiscate them. If they're illegal to be ridden on the streets of Philadelphia, I'd like a legal 19 BILL NO. 990198 opinion to see whether we can confiscate them if they're illegal to be ridden.
I'm not speaking for the Law Department, but the same problem we run into with the 53,000 uninsured motorists in the street, they're not really able to be riding their cars either, but we still continually have this fear of confiscating their automobiles. So it's a similar problem with the ATVs as the cars.
But the automobile is not illegal to be driven. The ATV as a vehicle is illegal.
The only disagreement I have is it is not legal to drive anything on the streets of any city in Pennsylvania without license, insurance, and registration, so those vehicles are illegal also.
Don't you think that we really have two different issues here. One is where a licensed insured motor vehicle pulls their vehicle a wet day onto picnic area, destroys the turf and the grass, that's pretty much a given that this legislation would empower the police officer to ticket a person that would do what I just described. 20 BILL NO. 990198 In my opinion, the bigger problem is the subject of unlicensed vehicles either trail bikes or all-terrain vehicles. I believe that document that you just circulated is to prove ownership, title of origin, and that sticker is not to suggest that that vehicle can be operated on the public highway.
They can be operated outside of Philadelphia, up in the mountains and all. They can't operate on the highway, to cross the a highway --
Like a snowmobile. Would you agree, Mr. Chairman, that the problem with people in regular automobiles damaging the park in my opinion is the intention of this legislation.
These vehicles that are ridden, they just ruin the ball fields, they ruin park and so on. I think we're in agreement on this bill, these things got to be prohibited. Can you get me an opinion on that and the ability for us either legally or not to confiscate those vehicles and under what authority did we do it in the 25th and 26th districts.
I could tell you the reason 21 BILL NO. 990198 why. We confiscate them temporarily. If there's no 3 VIN on them, no ownership papers, we take them in, and often times the individuals they were taken from never show back up. So we end up with a ATV with no 6 owner so it's confiscated vehicle.
Well, maybe that's the way we should go, but find me and get me a legal opinion, please. Thank you very much. Nancy Goldenberg, Fairmount Park Commission and Jim Donaghy, too. Well, Nancy should know the drill.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. I'm James Donaghy, D-o-n-a-g-h-y. I'm the director of operations for the Fairmount Park Commission. I want to thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony in support of this bill. Joining me today is Nancy Goldenberg, the natural lands and restoration environmental program administrator; and Brad Thompson from the Academy of Natural Science. The illegal use of all-terrain vehicles and the dirt motorcycles is a significant serious problem throughout the park system. The problem has existed for many years and is felt in every section 22 BILL NO. 990198 of the City. The list of parks where illegal ATV use occurs includes Cobbs Creek Park, East and West Park in Fairmount, Wissahickon Park Hunting Park, Tacony Creek Park, Penny Park, a Poquessing Creek Park. The ATVs are operated by adults and youth alike. The use of ATVs in our public parks causes several problems to our park and for our park users. It causes damage to park trails, athletic fields, lawn areas, shrubs, trees. This damage results in erosion. All this damage increases the repair and maintenance cost for the park commission. This ATV use also causes a very serious safety problem for our park users. ATVs are operated at a high rate of speed. They endanger the park users they affect the quality of the park user experience. The physical damage caused by this activity also creates unsafe conditions for our park users. This activity has created a perception of some parks being unsafe and it has deterred many people from using the park. When you encounter an ATV in the park, it creates an unsafe and unpleasant park experience. 23 BILL NO. 990198 And now my colleague, Nancy Goldenberg, will talk about the damages and some of the related costs.
Good afternoon. My name is Nancy Goldenberg, and I'm the program administrator for the for the Fairmount Commissions Natural Lands Restoration and Environmental Education Program. You do have a copy of my testimony today as well as some photographs that you might like to look at as well. The Natural Lands Program is a five-year initiative which began in July of 1997 to restore the natural areas in seven of the park systems watershed and estuary park and to build a constituency for their protection through environmental education and community stewardship. The scope of our restoration includes the 5,441 acres of woodland and wetlands in Poquessing, Penny Pack, and Tacony Creek Park, as well as in the Wissahickon, Fairmount, Cobbs Creek, and FDR Parks. I'm here along with my colleagues to speak in favor of amending Chapter 12-1600 to include a parental liability provision and subsequent fines. As you just heard, the use of 24 BILL NO. 990198 all-terrain vehicles is a public safety issue presenting a menace to park users. ATVs are also a menace to our ecosystem. As in many urban parks, Fairmount has been severely impacted by urbanization. Over the course of the past two years, we've been working with ecologists, gem morphologists, botanists, and other scientist at the Academy of Natural Sciences to assess in great detail the condition of natural lands in our park. Our assessments will result in the restoration master plans for each of our watershed areas. Each master plan in turn will contain a list of priority restoration projects that we will actually implement over the next three years. As we trail throughout all of our watersheds, one of the most damaging conditions we have seen is soil compaction by all-terrain vehicles, particularly in Poquessing, Tacony, and Cobbs Creek Park. As you will hear in more detail in a moment from Brad Thompson of the Academy of Natural Sciences, compaction limits the ability of the soil to soak up water. When the water isn't able to percolate into the ground, the populations and 25 BILL NO. 990198 diversity of aquatic organisms in our streams is negatively affected. Additionally, ATV users contribute greatly to the loss of nutrient-rich forest top soil needed to support a diverse population of shrubs wild flowers, grasses, sedges. Instead, if anything grows, it's typically of the weed or exotic variety, and indeed, many areas of Fairmount Park have taken on the all-too-familiar feature of an abandoned landscape. Such degraded landscape become open invitations for other illegal activities such as the dumping and abandonment of cars and other trash. Our parks appear unsafe, and the kinds of park activities we find attractive and want to encourage in our community, such as walking, picnicking, and jogging, stop altogether. While there is no single solution for such a complex ecological problem, instituting parental liability should help somewhat. Also needed is assurance that our police officers recognize ATV use as a serious quality of life issue, that they familiarize themselves with the type of damage ATVs do to our parks and that they be provided with the resources need to enforce this and BILL NO. 990198 other existing state laws against the illegal operation of ATVs in our park. Unless there are any questions, I'd like turn the program over to Brad Thompson.
I am Brad Thompson. I'm the project manager for the Academy of Natural Sciences role in the Fairmount park natural lands program. I represent the team of scientists, ecologist, botanists, bioengineers, landscape architects and planners that have been working in the park. We, the team, have observed clear and undeniable damage of the natural lands in the park by unauthorized vehicles. Decline of the landscape due to off-road use of motorized vehicles is easily observed in the six watershed parks in the City. During our study of existing conditions in the park over the last two years damaging use by these vehicles was observed by our team at different times throughout the park system. In more than one instance, we were pushed off trails by the users of these vehicles while performing our work. Moreover, during the process of prioritizing sites for restoration in Cobbs and Tacony, we identified many sites severely damaged by these vehicles. Our 27 BILL NO. 990198 initial estimates for repair are approximately $25,000 per acre. And you're now looking at pictures of those sites in Tacony that were so severely damaged that we didn't feel that we even or it would make sense to do any restoration work at that area. Unfortunately, this is one of the many areas in the park that have been hurt by these vehicles. The first and immediate impact of a vehicle is damage to herbaceous or the flower grass area of the park and the small woody vegetation that is directly under the trees. This vegetation is compacted, stomped by the vehicles. Some plants that aren't killed on impact die from the soil compaction, a process of compressing the soil that makes it unable to absorb water. Then an erosion gully literally washes away the soil from the plants exposing the root system. This is a simplistic explanation, but plants need water and soil to support plant life. In addition, users of motorized vehicles in the park often create new trails up or down slopes. This creates erosion gullies that not only damage the immediate area that has come in contact 28 BILL NO. 990198 with the vehicles. But also begins to tear apart the woods. Once a gully starts and long after the vehicle has left the site, the gully gets bigger and bigger with each storm advance. It becomes increasingly difficult to repair itself by natural plant regeneration. And the erosional process is usually only reversed when human intervention repairs the damage. When plants do not recede or generate themselves, it is often the weedy species that take over. What seems to be an isolated erosion gully is actually part of a larger problem of forest fragmentation. With each intrusion into the forest, the scale and the size of the habitat is reduced and the potential for diversity of plant life is lessened, animal life that follows. As the forest becomes more fragmented or torn apart, the habitat can change which often results in the reduction in the numbers of plants and animals living in our woods. What we have found initially is that over time there is a reduction of number of species in our woods which is closely associated with these habitats. Our forests are under a lot of stress, and this is just one of the new stresses that are 29 BILL NO. 990198 tearing the woods apart. So we from the Academy encourage Council to do all that's in their control stop the use of these unauthorized vehicles.
Can we do something in terms of Fairmount Park barriers of some sort that can prevent these individuals from having access to these areas?
We have put barriers and fences in many areas of the park. Short of a solid fence or cables, which we do no cables because of the inherent danger that they cause, there's no way to prevent people from getting into the park. We would have all of our parks completely fenced and then we would have maintaining and repairing the holes. It's a very difficult issue. But we do work with the community and the police to address those issue on a case-by-case basis.
Years ago we allowed trail bikes, pedaled bicycles in the park. Have we done anything to suggest an alternative for the people that really truly enjoy, and I don't think intentionally destroy the environment, snowmobiling and all-terrain vehicles and off-road motorcycles 30 BILL NO. 990198 are a lot of fun. Have we tried to work with these groups to come up with an area that would be acceptable? Is there an area in Philadelphia County where people can enjoy what they consider recreation.
In the park system, no 8 there is not an area that we would feel comfortable designating as an all-terrain vehicle park. I'm not aware of any private parks in Philadelphia County where this can be done, although there are some areas outside the City that are operated privately. There are tremendous amount of potential liability exposure in operating a park like this due to the inherent danger of operating this type of a vehicle.
Mr. Donaghy, in one of the pictures that was presented to me, more than erosion of the trails, do you notice the two abandoned cars in our park? Did you see this picture.
Yes, it does. As a matter of fact, this year we have removed 700 abandoned 31 BILL NO. 990198 cars from the Fairmount Park System, that's city-wide. Last year we removed 653 abandoned cars. It's a problem; it does concern us. And there again, we do work with the community and with the local police district to address those issues. Both groups have been very cooperative. We have a very good working relationship with the police so that when we remove the vehicles, the vehicles taken away immediately so they're not sitting on the street. It's something that we do as a task. After there's an accumulation of some, we then go in and remove those. It's very difficult for us to take them out as soon as that occurs, although I know that's the best way to do it, but with the resources we have it's difficult to hand it that way.
It's a problem and I'm in total agreement with you. You want to say something?
I wanted to mention that these four-wheelers are often breaking new trails and make it easier and easier to get the abandoned vehicles in the park. So they're actually creating roads as part of this process.
It's a problem. I've 32 BILL NO. 990198 been trying, like I said, actually this was about four years ago, three years ago we asked 25th to begin doing it and they were somewhat successful in confiscation. I still believe that you can confiscate and let them do something afterwards. I believe they can -- it's not as difficult to go after them as people claim. I think we can stop them if we just make up our minds to do it. So we're in agreement on this, but I wish it would be more than a fine because I think confiscation is a much more powerful deterrent. Thank you.
Len Panarella and Sam Ricks. Please identify yourself for record.
My name is Sam Ricks, R-i-c-k-s, and I'm a member of Town Watch.
This is one of the easy bills in Council. I think everybody is for this.
In my opinion, the proposed ordinance extending liability for the payment of fines and cost and additional for violations of the Traffic Code Section 1604-1 to parents and legal guardians is insufficient response to the ATV dirt 33 BILL NO. 990198 bike problem plaguing the Department of Recreations parks and playgrounds. First, the proposed ordinance appears to apply only to areas under the control of the Fairmount Park Commission excluding Department of Recreation property. The park areas under the control of Fairmount Park Commission are specifically designating Section 15-200 of the Philadelphia Code. Secondly, the proposed ordinance assigns liability to the parent, legal guardian, or other responsible adult of a juvenile who has violated Section 1604-1. According to a recent statement made by Municipal Court Judge Seamus McCaffery at a conference I attended, only one parent has ever be changed under a parental responsibility law since these law first appeared in the Philadelphia Code. How effective can this proposed ordinance be if the court system rarely sentences parents under the existing parental responsibility laws. Third, the Philadelphia Police Department has issued written orders to its patrol officers describing under what conditions they may pursue vehicles which violate various laws. They 34 BILL NO. 990198 are not permitted to chase ATVs or dirt bikes observed illegal operating on Department of Recreation property or on City streets because of safety concerns for pedestrian and officers. This is a valid policy. What other tactics are available for police to safely deal with this problem? Finally, the real issue here is the lack of enforcement of quality of life laws already on the books, including the State's Motor Vehicle Code. Chapter 77 of the Motor Vehicle Code specifically, the snowmobile and all-terrain vehicle law, covers the registration and safe operation of ATVs. I believe the Philadelphia Code already bars these vehicles or bans them from Fairmount Park. The dirt bike ATV issue is another example of a broken window left unrepaired, another sign of disorder left unchallenged. The issue is at the same crossroads as the drag racing issue was in 1997. Police in action allowed the problem to flourish to the point where it had control over Southwest Philadelphia's highways was seated to a bunch rich kids from the suburbs. I have one quote from an 18-year-old which appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News, 35 BILL NO. " Now we have both in Southwest Philly. We failed to fix one broken window and another has appeared. Are we letting one more set of laws dealing with quality of life and disorder fall by the wayside? In April 1994, New York City Police Department, where our Police Commissioner John Timoney was formerly deputy chief, developed and introduced eight crime control and quality of life strategies designed to reduce crime and improve the quality of life in city residents and visitors. Of interest to our current discussion are strategies 5 and 8 which are applicable to ATV dirt bike issue. Strategy 5 stress the reclaiming of public spaces such as parks. NYPD considered this particular strategy as the linchpin for all other strategies. According to the New York Police Department's publication, a comstat process, this strategy is based largely on the broken windows theory contention that unaddressed forms of minor public disorder are in themselves criminogenic emphasizes the enforcement public orders statutes to return a 36 BILL NO. 990198 sense of stability and social stability to the City. ATVs and dirt bikes are frequently subject to theft, robbery, or used in a drug trade or fought over with guns or illegally operated on streets, interfere with traffic, cause accidents, and cause safety problems at City-owned park and recreation facilities. Thus, ATVs and dirt bikes are definitely criminogenic.
In addition, many of the tactics outlined in their strategy involved the confiscation, closing, or temporary seizure of property used in public disorder offences which includes street prostitution, boombox radio playing, and squeegee window washers who harass motorists, drag racing, and other public nuisances. These tactics could certainly apply to the issue of ATVs and dirt bikes. " Our Police Commissioner had a significant role in formulating and implementing these strategies while he was Deputy Chief of the New York City Police Department. The issue isn't 37 BILL NO. 990198 what new laws and regulations can be used to curb the legal operation of ATVs and dirt bikes on City streets and City property, but what strategies and tactics has our Police Commissioner employed to deal with this problem? I believe that Police Commissioner John Timoney is a very capable and effective manager of police. It's his turn to deal with these issues, not necessarily City Council. Before another City ordinance is passed, let's see what can be done with existing laws. And I would request that City Council table this ordinance and request a hearing where the Police Commissioner can testify as to his department's strategies for dealing with this particular quality of life issue and the others which affect our neighborhoods. Thank you.
Yes. My name is Len Panarella. I'm president of the Friends of Elmwood Park in Southwest Philadelphia where we're having this special problem. I have petitions here signed by different park groups, different neighborhoods. I have letters from the Pennsylvania Water Culture 38 BILL NO. 990198 Society. You know all that, you know their support for this bill. My question is, the last time I looked out my window, this the was the City of Philadelphia, not Boulder, Colorado. I don't understand why we need these things on the street. They're dangerous. There's no need for them. The last time we had snow emergency that we needed one of the these vehicles, I can't remember. I've been in this City 45 years. There's not need for them in the City. They become the vehicle of choice for drug dealers. One of these days one of our children is going to get run over in the park. They go flying through the parks.
It already has happened. Oh, okay. So there won't be a first, it's already happened. Our park is a city block square. We've actually had families come over on their all-terrain vehicles, mothers, fathers, and children. And when you approach them and ask them, you know, you're not supposed to be doing this, you should go ride it somewhere else, they want to give you a hard time about it. You call the police, we have absolutely 39 BILL NO. 990198 no response from our Police Department with these. It's a very low priority. I think it needs to start being a higher priority. These are quality of life issues along with loud music, loud motorcycles, dirt bikes. I think the taxpayers of the City deserve to be able to sleep at night. They deserve to have a safe city, a safe park where they can go and relax after a hard day's work. Our seniors deserve it where they can go and sit and relax all day long. They don't need these children riding these vehicles through the park. And most of them are children. You addressed the issue where you feel that a higher fine, a hundred dollars. Well, to me, if a parent can afford to buy his child a 4 or $5,000 toy, I don't think a hundred dollar fine is big enough. I think you need to make it where they do get fined, their children won't be riding these things on the street anymore.
Well, what's to stop them from banning them altogether in the City?
I think what we have said, what I've asked the Police Department in Hunting Park to begin doing which was confiscating and stopping. You see somebody, you're a policeman, you see somebody riding an all-terrain vehicle anywhere in the City of Philadelphia, you stop that person, you take the bicycle away and then you let them do whatever it is they have to do. You begin doing that. They're illegal to be ridden within the confines of the City of Philadelphia. I think that's enough law right there to be able to confiscate the bicycle right then and there. We've done it only in certain areas. I'm going to ask the commissioner to give us a plan, a City-wide plan to deal with this problem because legislation just doesn't do it. You've got to have a plan. You've got to have the will to be able to implement that plan and know that you're going to get support. Obviously, the community support is there for this 41 BILL NO. 990198 type of thing to be done. I think the political support is right here in City Council for it to be done. We will ask the Commissioner. And I'm making a formal, the representative for the Commissioner, we would like the Commissioner to send us a plan on this on how we are going to be able to deal with multiplicity of all-terrain vehicles that are being used in our park sites across the City, both in the Recreation Department and in the Fairmount Park area.
Let's make it happen. I see no more witnesses on Bill 16 990198 -- oh, one more come forward. Anymore witnesses on this bill against or for? I don't think anybody is going to be against, right? Yes, sir?
My name is Raymond Warwick. I'm the coordinator for 52nd Street Town Watch Association. I'm also coordinator for Safe Car Program in West Philadelphia cluster office. I had gave me name to speak on this subject of the dirt bikes. I call them dune buggies or 42 BILL NO. 990198 what-have-you. I'm here to testify that they use 52nd Street from Greenway Avenue to Haverford Avenue as a race track. They also wear no helmets, they have no tags, and they have no goggles. They also use these bikes to run across Black Oak Park which is located between Pine and Larchwood Avenue, 52nd street and 51st.
I have spoken to Captain Mark Adams of 18th District. We, as a Town Watch unit have watched these bikes where they go. We have also turned in to the Captain where they house these bikes at in the evenings.
Nothing has been done so far. We have also went to different locations where the bikes go and stop in numbers of 8 and 12 and turned this in to Officer Riles.
But I wanted to make it known that these bikes are used on the streets.
They are used up and down North Philly, West Philadelphia, they're used for racing, used for drug dealing, used for drug lookouts, and a whole lot of other things that are not nice.
My name is Fred Mallard. I'm a member of the Tacony Creek Park and I do some of the work that's already been discussed. I'm quite aware of it, including Huntington Park, I do surveys and that so I know the problems. I want to address strictly the proposal. I think this proposal ordinance is really very inadequate. It only addresses a few issues and it's primarily a park thing. It does not include the other parts of our City, mostly of the Department of Recreation and other properties being held by the Water Department. So it is not inclusive enough throughout the City. You already said that you'll make it City-wide. I think that is an appropriate way to deal with this 44 BILL NO. 990198 and make it uniform across the City rather just piecemeal in the cities. I do find some defects in the ordinance. For instance, it uses the term "the motor vehicle," and that's incorrect term for an ATV. That's defined term of state we're prohibiting only motor vehicles. Actually, that's not the term that should than used. I think we think we need to define what is a vehicle that's in question. Another part about this is that it makes responsibility on the parents. Many of these parents are not really approving it. It implies in the ordinance that it's the authorization extending from the parents. I don't think that's a direct connection to the problem areas. I think you have to look to these connection things a little more clearly. These areas that are defined in the ordinance are for play areas. That's a term which is not adequate. It does not forest, it does not include bike trails. There are other things, for instance, we can even down in Center City parks, Rittenhouse Square, all those, it's not adequate because it is addressing grass areas and not the 45 BILL NO. 990198 parks as a whole thing.
No, I think when you say park, it's a whole park, bike trails and everything.
I think you better be careful when you term these because --
Do not include vehicles that are used for handicapped people. So you got to be careful how you do this.
I don't believe the sponsors of his this bill believe that this is going to be the panacea that solves the problem.
And the reason why the officers testified earlier, we had problems of defining these things. You're confiscating cars -- you say you're confiscating them from your district. The 25th District does not work for Tacony Creek 46 BILL NO. 990198 Park.
So we have a problem of the Administration and definition. We deal with the police constantly, and they do not understand the laws.
I'm sure you will from today's hearing. I'm not opposing the ordinance, I'm trying to expand the argument so you make it inclusive enough so that we can observe it in our own communities and deal with it people are doing it. I think you need extend this not as a park ordinance, but as an ordinance into other things, such as the licensing and the sales of these things and safety laws.
They are already prohibited within the County. We take into everything into account. This is a step; it is not the total answer, but it is a beginning towards the full answer. And I think as we approve this, then we can begin encompassing and enlarging and see what else is needed, and well add to this 47 BILL NO. 990198 legislation.
Thank you. Not seeing anyone else to testify on Bill 990198, the Committee of Public Safety now will have a public meeting. - - - 48 COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC MEETING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY - - - Tuesday, June 15, 1999 - - - Public Meeting conducted by the Committee on Public Safety, held in Room 401, City Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the above date, to consider action on the following: BILL 990198 - - - PRESENT: COUNCILMAN ANGEL ORTIZ, Chairman COUNCILMAN DAVID COHEN COUNCILMAN FRANK DI CICCO COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO - - - 49 PUBLIC MEETING
Seeing a quorum present with Councilman Rizzo, Councilman Cohen, Councilman Ortiz, Councilman DiCicco, and Councilman Kenney, I recognize Councilman Cohen for a motion with a change of Rules, please.
Mr. Chairman, I move that Bill NO. 990198 be reported out with a favorable recommendation and with the request for suspension of Rules to permit First Reading at the next Council Session on Thursday.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed? Hearing no nays, Bill 990198 will be recommended out of Committee with a favorable recommendation and a request that the Rules of Council be suspended so as to permanent First Reading in the next Session of City Council. The Committee on Public Safety on Bill 23 990198 is concluded. (Council adjourned at 2:35 p.m.) - - - 50 C E R T I F I C A T I O N I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of June 15, 1999, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. RE: COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY ___________________________ Lisa C. Bradley, RPR and Notary Public