Published: April 10, 2008 11:03 pm      

ATV-park permit approved

CENTRAL CITY — A popular Somerset County ATV park will reopen in early May after receiving a long-awaited erosion-control permit from the state.

The state Department of Environmental Protection ordered Mountain Ridge Trails Resort to be closed in September after it failed to obtain the permit.

“It’s very good to know we’ve gotten to this point,” said Jay Zimmerman, a resort owner. “The DEP has worked with us in many ways. Any process like this takes time and communication from both sides.”

Mountain Ridge, one of two large ATV parks in Somerset and Cambria counties, draws thousands of all-terrain enthusiasts a year.

Zimmerman said the park is set to open around May 3.

It is welcome news, County Commissioner Chairwoman Pamela Tokar-Ickes said.

“That’s part of our diversified tourism market,” she said.

“The ATV market is huge. To hear they’re going to be able to reopen is great.”

Mountain Ridge Trails on its Web site – http://mountainridgeatvtrails.com – said all season passholders will have their passes extended and will receive a letter by early May.

Zimmerman said the park will begin implementing erosion-control measures simultaneous to its opening.

“We have a considerable amount of work to do,” Zimmerman said.

Along with routine issues, the park’s owners have agreed to additional measures, including addressing water-borne erosion, said Keith Largent, erosion-control technician for the Somerset Conservation District, which administers permits for the DEP.

“It’s been a long and arduous trail,” Largent said. “We have come to the best possible plan we could for a track of that nature.”

Last year, the more than 2,500-acre park hosted some of the world’s top off-road dirt bike and ATV riders at the Geico Mountain Ridge National Cross Country Race. The ninth stop on a 13-stage national tour, the race attracted about 1,500 competitors and thousands of spectators.