ATVs and Off road vehicles on HOA private road s

Where are you Permitted to Operate an ATV or UTV in Virginia?
Generally, you are not permitted to operate an ATV or UTV in Virginia on any public highway, or other public property, unless it has been authorized by the proper authorities.

You may not operate an ATV or UTV on the private land of another unless you have written permission from the owner.

Unless the covenants clearly state that ATVs are allowed to be ridden on the private road which I doubt, the State Laws would be applicable.

This reminds me of my own very first exposure to an HOA: as a teenager I'd ride my minibike far and wide on roads, trails, and HOA common areas. You can probably guess the rest.

From what you wrote, it sounds to me like riding the ATV on the former golf course is a matter between the ATV rider and the current property owner.

As for riding on the HOA property: first check the governing documents and see if it's addressed. If it is, I suspect that fines will be about all you can do.

While it's technically illegal to ride an ATV on the roads in most places, I've noticed that the police often won't enforce on ATVs, golf carts, etc, especially if the neighborhood is off the beaten path and the riders are residents.

I'm curious what issue(s) people have with the ATV: Noise? Are they tearing up the landscaping? Are they being irresponsible and putting others at risk?

IMHO it is entirely possible for people with 'recreational vehicles' to coexist with others if they aren't jerks. I used to have a very large motorcycle (1800cc Honda VTX) that was so quiet that you could forget it was even running. And I made it a point to never ride it through people's yards or do Fonzie style jumps over the pool etc, and I never got a single complaint from any neighbor.

Bill

Virginia law makes it illegal to ride ATV and off road vehicles on public roads and highways. They can only be ridden on private land of their own or must have written permission from the owner of the private land. The rider has been negligent in riding on vacant lots owned by others and HOA private roads. When issue was addressed with him, he became verbally abusive to their neighbor. As to golf property, the new owner purchased said property from the bank after foreclosure and intends to build a town to town trail way that can accommodate walkers, runners, bicycles, horse riders, and golf carts in defined spaces but that has yet to be done and use is currently limited to walkers, runners, bicycle riders and golf carts. The new owner is also the community declarent as he also purchased all the unsold lots within our community which he is selling piecemeal to a large homebuilding company and both are working to retain the HOA community's attractiveness and safeness. We realize we have no legal say over the golf trail, but he has made it his mission to preserve this community in what it is known for. This is an upscale luxury community where majority of homeowners are retired and have downsized from large homes on the water and/or large cities. Just trying to preserve what majority of homeowners want.