ATVs, again

The Watertown Daily Times (subscription required, sorry) ran an article today putting a new spin on the ATV issue in upstate New York. It seems that certain idiots opposed to ATV use installed at least one "booby trap" on private property, as part of an ongoing squabble over ATV use by the property owners.

The usual debate on ATV use revolves around access and use on publicly-owned land. It's part of an ongoing and probably unresolvable issue as to what uses are allowable on land owned by us all. Hikers, horses, snowmobiles, ATVs, etc., have all faced scrutiny due to impacts on the land.

This issue, though, may have somewhat of an answer in nuisance law. If the ATV use on the private property is somehow so excessive, creating noise or dust problems, then the neighbors may have a civil remedy in how the use impacts the use and enjoyment of their own land. Former law students may remember the Boomer Cement case out of Albany, dealing with a cement plant spreading ash over a residential neighborhood.