Harford County (Map, News) - Public outcry and confusion led to the withdrawal of proposed restrictions on off-road vehicles.

County Councilwoman Roni Chenowith of Fallston said Tuesday that she’d withdraw the bill after she received more than 2,000 e-mails and 100 phone calls on the issue. Her bill would have prohibited riding off-road vehicles and dirt bikes on any property smaller than five acres.

On larger properties, riders would have been limited to riding only from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and violations would have carried a $250 fine.

Chenowith said most of the complaints came because people kept getting confused about the bill’s exact effects.

“I was having handicapped people complaining they wouldn’t be able to ride their personal mobility devices down to their mailbox,” she said. “I would say 98 percent of the people I talked to hadn’t even read the bill.”

She said she felt obligated to push for the legislation after three years of complaints from residents in her district.

Joe Kruse, senior vice president of Pete’s Cycles, said he understood the council’s intent, didn’t think legislation was the answer.

“I certainly have a great deal of sympathy for the old lady who is sitting on her one-acre lot and

has to listen to bouncing basketballs or dirt bikes all day long,” Kruse said. “But most of those things can be rectified by communication.”

County Council President Billy Boniface agreed with Chenowith’s choice to withdraw the bill.

“She received a lot of opposition to the bill, so she’s doing what a council representative should do,” Boniface said. “She is still going to try to address the issues by

going back to the drawing board and seeing if anything can be done in the context in the current laws.”

vdickson@baltimoreexaminer.com