TREVORTON - Zerbe Township Police Chief Robert John and townshipsupervisors have been critical of Reading Anthracite for not posting"no trespassing" signs at Coal Hill, the former coal collieryproperty at the west end of the village where huge, steep culm pilesattract off-road riders.
John has been taking it upon himself to alert ATV riders thatthey may be trespassing. For the past few weekends, he has beenmarking down license plates and informing riders in person thatriding is not permitted at Coal Hill, but that's a tedious task,John said.
Reading Anthracite, Pottsville, sells permits for legal access toits coal lands in the township, but Coal Hill is supposed to be off-limits. Problem is, most riders - particularly those from out of thearea - don't know that. Plus, the Coal Hill property is where manyriders park their pickups and trailers, so they naturally expectthey can ride there.
Cory Horne, of Reading, spent Sunday with his family riding theiroff-road vehicles in the area. Only his second time in the area,Horne wasn't aware of the riding systems or the permits, but said hewould consider getting one.
"With all the flats around here, the area is very kid-friendlyand a nice area to boot, the people are friendly here," Horne said."There are not many places like that left."
Josh Musselman, of Philadelphia, traveled 2 1/2 hours to ride hisdirt bike in the area with a friend of his, who has one of theReading Anthracite permits.
"It's my third time here, and I like coming here," he said. "Wesee the signs about the local traffic only in that area, but withnot a lot of places around to do this, the permit is worth it."
Coal Hill wasn't originally off-limits, but, after severalresidents complained about air quality issues because of dust,Reading Anthracite and the state Department of EnvironmentalProtection (DEP) came to a verbal agreement to ban riding in thatarea, according to the supervisors.
That knowledge may spread by word of mouth and the Internet, butthe township believes Reading Anthracite needs to do more to curtailriding at Coal Hill.
"It's a Catch-22," John said. "People are paying $125 a year fora permit to ride on Reading Anthracite property, and that (once)included Coal Hill."
Zerbe police do have authorization from Reading Anthracite toenforce trespassing laws, and written notices on the restrictionshave appeared in local newspapers. Still, some have not gotten themessage.
"We have a number of riders that come from out of the area, somepermitted and some not," John said. "If they don't have the permit,they don't know that you can park there but not ride there."
While both riders interviewed did not know that Coal Hill was off-limits, it didn't appear to concern them, as they were safety-conscious.
"I'm not one for climbing and jumping when I ride," Musselmansaid. "I would much rather ride on the old coal roads, there in theflats."
Riding with youngsters, Horne talked about the difficultiesriding in areas such as Coal Hill and Zerbe Township.
"The only problem with the coal region riding, is you have toworry about dropoffs. One time you could be here and everything isfine, the next time, there's a drop off that wasn't there before,you have to really plan the route," he said.
Coal Hill is not the only area that is a problem in ZerbeTownship. Recently, township supervisors posted signage on SunshineRoad for local traffic only with no off-road vehicles allowed.However, Sunshine Road sits between two parcels of ReadingAnthracite property where riding is permitted.
The township is asking for the public's help in getting thesignage placed. Residents are asked to contact Reading Anthracite ina courteous manner, but to let their opinions be known. The contactperson is Debbie Fehr at 622-5150.
Fehr was contacted Friday by The News-Item, but she said shecould not discuss the issue and referred questions to companypresident Brian Rich, who she said was not available Friday.
Meanwhile, John said he would try to work through the situation.
"I want to do what's best for everyone," he said. "If I citesomeone for trespassing, there's a good chance that it could bethrown out of court because there are no signs out there.
"We are not trying to get rid of the ATV riders," he added, "justto help them understand where they are allowed to ride and park."
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