New London — The city plans to address what has increasingly become a summer pastime: the illegal operation of dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles on city streets.

A new ordinance being considered by the City Council later this month would establish stricter penalties, impose up to $2,000 in fines and provide police with the power to destroy or sell seized bikes. The ordinance would even prohibit gas stations from selling fuel to prohibited vehicles.

Councilor Alma Nartatez, chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee, said the ordinance addresses a well-known problem in the community that has served to frustrate police officers and residents alike for years.

She credited New London Crime Prevention Officer Ryan Soccio with being proactive in bringing the proposal forward. The proposed ordinance is in draft form and being vetted by City Attorney Jeffrey Londregan.

The problems associated with the operation of dirt bikes, mini-bikes and all-terrain vehicles are varied but include running through traffic signals, pulling wheelies, riding three or more abreast and speeding the wrong way on one-way streets, Soccio said.

Riders sometimes taunt and intimidate motorists, cut them off and wear masks so they cannot be identified.

“These problems go back at least three years and are getting progressively worse,” Soccio said. “The cops are just as frustrated as everyone else.”

Soccio said New London’s ordinance is based on one in Washington, D.C., another of several cities facing serious problems with groups of dirt bike and all-terrain vehicle riders.

While police do perform investigations to try to identify and cite problem riders, Soccio said it is a public safety hazard and risk to other motorists for police to chase the bikes through the city. Police were not immediately available to provide statistics on the number of complaints or citations.

Many of the bikes in question are operated illegally on city roads. Scooters, mopeds and motorbikes, defined by state law as having an engine displacement of fewer than 50 cc and having a seat height measuring 26 inches or more, require a licensed driver but no registration. They can be driven on road shoulders only. Pocket bikes, or mini bikes, and all-terrain vehicle do not require a registration but by law cannot be operated on state roadways.

Certain kinds of dirt bikes are road legal if the driver is licensed and the bikes are registered and meet certain criteria, including being equipped with turn signals and mirrors.

Soccio said one of the major problems has been that even when bikes are seized, the registered owner can come in and claim his or her bike. The new ordinance allows for the permanent seizure and eventual sale or destruction of the seized bike. It provides for penalties starting at $1,000 for the first offense and rising to $2,000 for a third offense.

The proposed ordinance would prohibit sale of gasoline to riders pulling up to a pump and would require gas stations to post signs announcing “fueling to unauthorized vehicles prohibited.” That provision raised a question from Councilor Don Venditto, who voiced some concern about the possibility of placing the onus on gas station employees to confront riders.

It also would require all-terrain vehicle dealers to post the ordinance in a prominent location or face a $100 fine.

Councilor Martin Olsen, a member of the public safety committee, said the ordinance could prove to be a “strong deterrent” to the riders.

“They’re noisy, dangerous and the riders are arrogant. They’ve got their faces covered and they look like hoodlums and thugs,” Olsen said. “These guys just thumb their noses at us literally, not figuratively. If you hit them with a $1,000 fine or take the bike, they might think twice.”

The council is expected to take up the proposal at its June 18 meeting.

g.smith@theday.com