Throttle back on off-road rules?

San Bernardino County’s crackdown on off-roaders trespassing on private land came as a relief to homeowners when it was approved last year, but the regulations have been under constant attack by riders, who say it is killing a popular Southern California pastime.

In response, county supervisors will decide today whether to repeal or modify the ordinance, which passed unanimously in April 2006. It establishes fines for off-roaders who ride on private property without permission and requires groups of 10 or more to apply for a $155 special-event permit.

Off-road riders complain that the last requirement is especially unfair.

“When my family alone gathers we are 18 strong. That is one family -- children and grandchildren,” said Margo Howlett, 53, of Gardena, who rides in Johnson Valley.

The ordinance is the latest challenge to off-road riders accustomed to riding through the desert. Last year, noise complaints prompted Riverside County to propose restricting riding times to between noon and 5 p.m. and limiting the number of vehicles residents can ride on their property to one per 10 acres. Officials said they needed to study the issue further.

In the Santa Clarita Valley, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have fielded similar complaints about off-roaders tearing through private property at the edge of the state off-road riding area of Hungry Valley.

As in San Bernardino County, deputies have cited riders who don’t have written permission to cross private property, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Olfert. Meanwhile, Antelope Valley residents have fended off several proposals in recent years to set up county parks for off-roaders.

There are 158,000 riders in Los Angeles County. Riverside and San Bernardino counties are home to about one-fifth of the state’s 1.1 million riders, according to state parks officials.

In San Bernardino County, the battle between homeowners and off-road riders remains intense.

Ray Pessa, 60, has lived in Yucca Valley for nearly three decades and is one of the ordinance’s most vocal opponents.

His father, a machinist, homesteaded 5 acres in Johnson Valley in the 1950s and let his children ride miniature motorbikes around the desert. These days, Pessa throws family barbecues twice a year at the homestead and trailers his four dune buggies there for relatives to ride.

“For me to have a permit for my family to visit me and to have my niece ride on an [all-terrain vehicle] on my property just doesn’t seem right to me,” he said.

He and 70 other Johnson Valley off-roaders have formed a coalition called Friends of Giant Rock, which advocates responsible riding through education.

They believe they are being punished with an overly restrictive ordinance because a few ATV riders in Wonder Valley were bad neighbors.

But Phil Klasky, a part-time Wonder Valley resident, is urging supervisors not to weaken the ordinance, citing tales of intimidation and harassment from off-roaders who “want unbridled access to our community,” he said. Reckless ATV riding also damages historical sites, the environment and other infrastructure, he said.

“Their version of ‘playing’ is riding on berms and destroying flood infrastructure,” Klasky said.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Lewis said most of the offenders cited were either from out of the area and didn’t know the new rules or local kids riding on dirt roads through neighborhoods after school.

In most cases, he said, off-roaders could ride legally if they just took their vehicles 20 minutes down the highway to the Johnson Valley Off Highway Vehicle Area -- the largest of its kind in the state.

Randy Rogers, San Bernardino County’s chief code enforcement officer, said he would recommend that the law remain untouched.

“I think we’ve got an ordinance in place that does a great job. It doesn’t prohibit riding; it says if you’re going to ride, just don’t be a nuisance,” Rogers said.

His office has given out about 300 first-time warnings to residents who are riding illegally.

sara.lin@latimes.com