Gyeonggi Province Civic Ombudsman Committee Recommends Improvements to Two-Wheeled Vehicle Parking Restrictions at Natural Recreation Forests

The Gyeonggi Province Civic Ombudsman Committee, which determined that the restriction on two-wheeled vehicle parking at natural recreation forests in Gyeonggi Province excessively infringed on residents' rights, has now recommended improvements to the same restriction system to three municipalities that operate the policy.

The Gyeonggi Province Civic Ombudsman Committee conducted an investigation into access to and parking restrictions for two-wheeled vehicles at 56 public forest recreation facilities operated by municipalities and counties in the province. The committee announced on the 10th that it had identified three facilities that restrict access or parking for such vehicles and taken measures accordingly.

The facilities receiving improvement recommendations are "Yongin Natural Recreation Forest" in Yongin, "Seoun Mountain Natural Recreation Forest" in Anseong, and "Cheonbo Mountain Natural Recreation Forest" in Pocheon. These facilities have been restricting or fully prohibiting two-wheeled vehicles from accessing and parking at their auxiliary parking lots based on local ordinances or internal operational standards, or in some cases without any explicit legal basis.

At its regular meeting on August 20, the Civic Ombudsman Committee reviewed the appropriateness of the operational standards and recommended that the relevant municipalities and counties revise relevant local regulations to allow two-wheeled vehicles to travel to and park at designated auxiliary parking lots.

However, to maintain safety and order within the natural recreation forests, the committee mandated that specific restriction standards—such as noise and speed limits, and prohibitions on entering forest trails—be established in enforcement regulations. Rather than restricting the use of auxiliary parking lots solely because of the vehicle type, clear safety and environmental standards are to be set.

Previously, the Civic Ombudsman Committee received complaints from two-wheeled vehicle users who were denied access to parking lots and forced to park outside while using campgrounds at natural recreation forests. The committee reviewed the appropriateness of related ordinances on May 21.

Jang Jin-su, chair of the Gyeonggi Province Civic Ombudsman Committee, stated: "Following our inspection of natural recreation forests operated by Gyeonggi Province, we expanded the inspection scope to municipal and county facilities to examine cases where residents' rights to use public facilities were unreasonably restricted. We will continue to identify and improve unreasonable systems so that all residents can receive reasonable and consistent administrative services regardless of which municipality's forest recreation facility they use."