MILFORD - A judge ordered a Mason commercial dirt bike and all-terrain vehicle track to shut down and its owner to restore the nearly 24-acre parcel to its original condition.

Milford District Court Judge Martha R. Crocker ruled the off-highway recreational facility Eugene Dancause created on his Hurricane Hill Road property violated the town's zoning ordinance.

By bulldozing, excavating and altering the existing terrain to create dirt bike and ATV trails and a parking area, Dancause ran afoul of the general residential, agricultural and forestry district zoning in which his land lies, the judge said in her two-page May 12 decision.

Converting the track into a commercial enterprise further violated the town's zoning laws, and Dancause also illegally filled wetlands, Crocker said.

Crocker upheld the town's Dec. 10 order that Dancause cease and desist using his land as an off-highway recreational facility.

"Further, the defendant must restore the premises to its original condition and remove the off-highway recreational vehicle facility," she wrote.

To neighbors who have been unable to fully enjoy the rural tranquility of this Massachusetts border town because of noise, dust and occasional invasions on their property by ATV and dirt bike riders, the judge's words were sweet victory.

"I would like to send her a thank-you note," said Paula J. Babel, 40, a Hurricane Hill Road neighbor.

"We moved to Mason for peace and tranquility 17 years ago and to have to deal with a motorcross course in our background, it's been **** ," she added.

"We all wanted this thing shut down and Judge Crocker had it shut down, and we're all very grateful. She gave us back our peace," Babel said of the 2½-year ordeal.

Peterborough attorney Silas Little, who represented the town, said Dancause was operating a professional, off-road vehicle course, which was not a permitted use in that district.

"It's a political issue. It involves the intrusion of one person's activity into the way other people may want to live," he said.

Little said district court orders generally cannot be appealed to the superior court.

It could not be determined if Dancause intends to seek a variance from the town's zoning laws, which would enable him to continue operating. Dancause could not be reached for comment yesterday and his attorney, Robert Shepard of Nashua, did not return several phone calls.

Several attempts to contact Selectman Chairman Nancy Richards to comment on the ruling also were unsuccessful.

Little disputed Dancause's claims that the trails were private - used only by Dancause and invited friends - and that it was not a commercial venture since he did not accept trail fees.

"When you go to a museum and you're asked for a donation, it's the same as an admission fee," Little said.

Babel said she has a photograph of a jar with a "Donations Accepted" sign tacked to it that was placed next to the liability waiver forms Dancause required his trail riders to sign.

The court file included photocopies of an Internet site that listed the track along with others in New England and a flyer advertising the Hurricane Hill Motorcross Track which, Little said, was posted at Sky Cycle in Leominster, Mass.

Neighbors said they often saw vehicles with out-of-state plates hauling trailers carrying off-road vehicles entering Dancause's property.

Many did not even know his name when they asked residents for directions to the track, neighbors and Little said.

"Within my experience, if it's something you are just doing for you and your family, you're not handing out flyers in local ATV shops and you're not listing on Web sites," he added.

There also were instances where off-road vehicle riders would drive straight up from Townsend, Mass., crossing other people's private property to get to Dancause's track, Little said.

"As bystanders, we could also see he was running a commercial track by calling all these people his friends," said neighbor Kirsten A. Smith, 32, of Hurricane Hill Road.

"We're happy to have our neighborhood back," she added. Smith said the process was painful, not just for the unbearable noise and disruption of life, but also because many in the neighborhood ride four-wheelers and liked Dancause.

"It was really a disappointment he turned it into something bad," Smith said.

The state Department of Environmental Services is involved in an enforcement action due to wetlands violations at the track, said Rene Pelletier, manager of the department's land resources program.

While Dancause was in the process of formally applying for remediation, the judge's decision will change this, he said.

"If the court says he has to restore everything, then the application that we receive is going to be for restoration and restoration only," Pelletier said.