Residents leery of potential effects of nearby motorcycle training academy

By Benjamin Joe

Residents by Nash Road seemed largely not convinced by a demonstration of “training bikes” in the parking lot of Wheatfield Town Hall staged Wednesday, July 9. The presentation was offered to alleviate fears of noise in the neighborhood coming from a motorcycle training academy.

Representatives of American Harley Davidson dealership along Erie Avenue appeared before the Town of Wheatfield Planning Board with a trailer hauling two motorcycles that would be used for providing new bikers the skills needed to ride a street-legal vehicle through a 50-hour class conducted on weekends during the summer. Up to six training motorcycles would be driven during actual training sessions.

At the presentation, residents gathered outside and were told where to stand – the same exact distance from the riding academy to their houses, which had been measured by the town.

After the demonstration, residents told officials exactly how they felt.

Patrick Murphy wrote an email to the board, but also addressed his concerns at the meeting.

“A lot of my concerns have to do with environmental impacts,” he said. “There’s studies done by environmental scientists showing that motorcycles produce 15 times more exhaust than cars.”

Murphy also noted there are more people doing remote work at home in the neighborhood, including himself.

Rod Truban was among the most vocal resident against the use. During the demonstration, he protested the distance used to show the amount of noise from the bikes, noting he and his wife were often in their backyard. The distance used was to his house. When the demonstration was over and public comment was opened, he explained his position.

“Our backyard is right against that parking lot,” Truban said. “They’ve got plenty of room on Erie Avenue where their business is. … We moved here several years ago from Sanborn, and we picked the Town of Wheatfield because we liked it. It was quiet.

“If this happens, I’ll put the house up right away and we’ll move out of state.”

Truban also noted he had ridden a motorcycle for years and never needed to attend a training.

Don Rawson, speaking on behalf of the training academy, said all possibilities of another parking lot in the area had been exhausted. There are requirements on the size of the parking lot – approximately 160 to 220 feet – mandated by the state for driving instruction. He said no owners of lots with those specifications would accommodate the academy.

Rawson noted the state is requiring new riders to undergo a training class before they can procure a license.

“This is required by the Department of Motor Vehicles,” Rawson said. “They want people to know how to ride a motorcycle properly to reduce fatalities. That’s why there’s a motorcycle course.”

Scott Hartrich, business manager and co-owner of the training academy, said the property on Erie Avenue was made up of wetlands and was inadmissible.

Of the approximate half-dozen residents who arrived to see the demonstration and speak, only one resident seemed in favor of the use.

“I’m going to go against the grain a little bit,” Patricia Swanson said. “I hear louder motorcycles and trucks going by. … I just don’t see the issue.”

Joe Hartrich, the other co-owner of the academy, said the parking lot on Nash Road is not a long-term situation, and if there is any noise, it will shut down.

“We’re trying to be good neighbors,” he said.

According to the dealership’s website, the academy would show a new rider how to ride a “genuine Harley-Davidson motorcycle” and provide instruction from certified coaches on how to “shift, brake and turn,” as well as how to control skids and what to do when riding obstacles come into play.

Planning Board Chair Susan Agnello-Eberwein said the issue was tabled until the next meeting.

“We, as a board, have a lot to look at,” she said. “What I would like to do is to table it. Our next meeting is next Wednesday and I’d like you on the agenda.”