Good afternoon and welcome.

I'd like to begin by asking our clerk to call the roll, please.

Councilman Bowman.

Present.

Councilman Brown.

Here.

Vice Mayor Gray.

Present.

Councilwoman Harper.

Present.

Councilman Hobbes.

Present.

Councilwoman Muggler.

Mayor Tuck.

Present and Councilwoman Mugler and her family are welcoming a new grandbaby at this hour, and so she will not be here at one o'clock.

And now I'll ask our seat of manager to introduce this afternoon's agenda, please.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

We have two items on the afternoon agenda.

The first one is going to be a briefing on a proposed ATV and off-road motorcycle ordinance.

You may recollect, but for the benefit of the public, we asked the General Assembly this past year for legislative authority to deal with a problem that has plagued many of our neighborhoods.

They've been very frustrated with ongoing issues, and we asked for some legislative authority since it's a Dillon rule state, we have to go say Mother May I.

And we were granted that authority.

However, now you have to actually embed that in your city code.

So this afternoon, senior deputy city attorney Brandy Law is going to make a presentation on how that city code chapter would work.

Assuming you all are comfortable with that, we would move that forward to a future meeting for actual adoption.

And I do want to recognize Chief Wideman, who I see is also in the audience in case you have any questions about how HPD would enforce it.

Thanks.

Good afternoon, Mayor, members of council.

Again, as Ms.

Bunting said, I'm here to talk to you a little bit about ATVs, also all terrain vehicles, as well as off-road motorcycles, which are commonly known as dirt bikes, and then talk to you a little bit about staff's staff's the ordinance that staff will be bringing to you at your next meeting.

So all-terrain vehicles are defined by Virginia Code as a motor vehicle having three or more wheels that is powered by a motor and is manufactured for off-highway use.

Off-road motorcycles, commonly known as dirt bikes, are defined by the Virginia Code as every motorcycle designed exclusively for off-road use by an individual rider with not more than two wheels in contact with the ground.

They can be operated as they are intended to be operated without registration.

But if they are operated on public highways, they have to have proper titling, registration, and insurance, and then meet all of the same requirements as motorcycles for headlights, taillights, turn signals, horn smufflers, rear view mirrors, tire treads, and braking systems.

So following the pandemic, a lot of urban areas saw an uptick in groups of riders of these types of vehicles, riding through cities, clogging streets, racing, and engaging in other sort of risky behavior.

Although those numbers were some are somewhat down this year, when we looked at the end of September, HPD already had 60 calls for service for speeding or reckless driving of these vehicles.

Riders often recklessly speed or race, perform wheelies or other unsafe acrobatics, block roadways or parking lots, and trespass on private property.

This creates a dangerous environment for the citizens, for responding police officers, and for the riders themselves.

So as Ms.

Bunting said, a Hampton's request along with the City of Norfolk, the 2024 General Assembly enacted legislation which gives the governing body of any city the ability to, by ordinance, provide for the lawful seizure, impounding and disposition of an ATV or off-road motorcycle, which is unlawfully operated within the boundaries of such city.

Although this is new to Virginia, several cities, as you see on or several states, as you see on the East Coast, have similar laws and have had success.

So the proposed ordinance that was included in your package and which will come before you at your next meeting, um provides for the seizure and impoundment of an unlawfully operated ATV or off-road motorcycle by any law enforcement officer charging someone with unlawful operation.

So in other words, if they pull you over and issue you a charge, they can impound that vehicle right then.

Then forfeiture proceedings may be initiated by the city attorney's office in accordance with Virginia forfeiture law.

And I'll talk a little bit more about that on the next slide.

Um is to be sold at public auction or retained for use by HPD at the chief's discretion.

I don't know if he would ever want to keep it, but he can speak to that.

So typically Commonwealth Attorney's Offices pursue forfeiture proceedings, but because this is not the type of charges that they are involved in, this one is set up for a city attorney's office.

Um the city attorney would file a petition in circuit court and serve it on the property owner.

So this is the owner, the actual owner of the property, not necessarily the person who was charged with the crime.

So if you lent your ATV to someone else and they are engaging in unlawful behavior, then you may you wouldn't be the one charged.

But in the meantime, if the traffic or the criminal violation is still pending in either general district or circuit court, the forfeiture action is automatically stayed.

Either the person is found not guilty or the charge is dismissed for another reason, then the property must be released back to its owner.

If they're assuming there is a conviction and the owner responded within the 30-day time frame, then the court has to hold a hearing.

At that hearing, the city's burden is to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the property was used in violation of law.

Any questions or comments from counsel?

Councilman Brown?

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Brandy.