Let dust settle, prosecutor urges

Published 9:00 pm Friday, July 29, 2005

MACHIAS – A high-ranking Snohomish County prosecutor stepped into a neighborhood dispute on Friday and asked participants to simply get along.

Whenever dirt bikes rev up at Joe Ensminger’s property off Carlson Road southeast of Lake Stevens, neighbors call 911 about the noise. Deputies have responded to the dirt bike track 28 times since January 2004, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

Officers have better things to do, said Mark Roe, county’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor, at a meeting with area residents.

“There aren’t enough deputy sheriffs. I don’t want them to keep going there,” Roe said.

The county held the meeting, attended by about 25 people, to seek information on whether to issue a noise-exemption permit for Ensminger to operate the track under certain conditions.

A district court in Monroe recently found Ensminger guilty of a criminal charge for creating too much noise. He faces 40 hours of community service and a $500 fine. All motorcycle riding at the track also has to stop until he can get a permit from the county, court documents show.

The county hasn’t decided when to rule on the exemption permit, said Susan Scanlan, a county planner.

Roe urged neighbors to be tolerant and find a solution themselves. He said he lives near a lake and doesn’t like the noise of jet skis. He can live with it, however, because neighbors set their hours of operation.

“You’ve got to draw the line. You’ve got to forget the past,” he told the crowd.

The dispute over the track has been going on for four years.

Opponents say the noise coming from the track violates the county’s noise ordinance, which prohibits off-road vehicles from interfering with the peace and comfort of a neighborhood.

Another provision in the law, however, sets permissible sound levels based on decibels. The county hasn’t measured the decibel levels coming from the track.

On Friday, Ensminger proposed a riding schedule in which up to three dirt bikes can be operated three days a week for limited hours.

“I’m trying to help kids. That’s all I’m trying to do,” he said of the track he built about 20 years ago for his son and his friends.

Megan Binckley, who lives a few miles from the track, said her husband, a professional dirt bike rider, has stopped riding because of the dispute. They also have put their house up for sale.

“If we can’t ride dirt bikes in Snohomish County, we’ll be moving out of Snohomish County,” Binckley said.

With a Monroe track illegally built on farmland facing a possible shutdown, the county offers no tracks to ride dirt bikes, she said.

Neighbor Bob Knox said he’s not opposed to a compromise, but he doesn’t expect Ensminger to keep his promises.

“I don’t have trust. I don’t trust this process,” he said.

The noise at the track is unbearable, Karol Foxworthy said.

“I can’t stay in the house,” she said.

About two hours into the meeting, Roe had to leave, even though there was little progress toward a settlement, he said.

That is “based on experience,” Foxworthy said.

“That’s why we need to move forward,” Roe countered.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@ heraldnet.com.