Staff photo/Jane Howard Seventy people attended a county board hearing Tuesday, May 26, 2009 on a proposed ordinance that would allow AT Vs to drive along the shoulders of county-owned gravel roads. By a vote of four to one, the ordinance passed after three years of deliberation by the county board and a county-appointed AT V Task Force. County commissioners had received impassioned pleas from many people on both sides of the issue.
After three years of deliberating on the issue of ATVs, the Cook County Board of Commissioners passed an ordinance outlining where and how ATVs can be used on county roads. Seventy people, mostly ATV riders as demonstrated by a show of hands, attended a hearing at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts Tuesday, May 26, 2009 that culminated in a 4-1 vote.
Board chair Fritz Sobanja opened the meeting by talking about what led the county-designated ATV Task Force, which has been meeting for three years, to propose a simple, two-page ordinance. Sobanja said he has a stack of letters about 2 ½ inches high advocating both for and against ATVs on county roads.
Lutsen resident Paul Quinn was the first member of the public who volunteered to speak. “I think it’s about time we see more use of ATVs,” he said, advocating for the addition of ATV amenities throughout the county.
Charlie Tice of Grand Marais said he has ridden 6,000 miles on ATVs in Arizona, where he spends winters. In Arizona, he said, many forms of recreation, from ATVs to horses, share trails and roadways. “There’s no issue,” he said. “I can’t see any harm in it at all.”
Shirley Lindgren of Tait Lake said her ATV helps her get to her favorite outdoor spots for trout fishing and bird hunting. At her age, however, trailering her ATV to authorized trails would be very difficult. Caribou Trail, the road leading to her neighborhood, is not busy and has almost no buildings alongside it. If ATVs were not allowed on such a road, why would the county not also stop joggers, hikers, and motorcyclists? she asked.
Tom Spitznagle of Lutsen pointed out that even dog sledding traffic is expected on county roads, as indicated by signs along some county roads. He added that driving ATVs on county roads to reach trail systems is safer than leaving vehicles with trailers along roadsides.
Ann Possis wondered what enforcement mechanisms and funding would be in place for those who don’t follow the rules. Commissioner Sobanja responded by saying that most enforcement would happen during routine patrolling. Money is available through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), he said, and the ATV Club has said it would help with signage. Sheriff Mark Falk said the county received $20,000 in state grant funding from ATV taxes during the last two years alone. If the number of ATV trails increased significantly, deputies would need to patrol them, he said.
Gary Maciejewski of Caribou Lake pointed out safety requirements he thought were missing from the proposed ordinance, such as stipulations on nighttime driving, taillights and tainers on ATVs, he said, the ordinance should be voted down until state law changes. Maciejewski said he believes business people have been afraid to speak out against ATVs on county roads and suggested that the issue be put on this fall’s referendum ballot so that people could express their wishes confidentially.
Maciejewski said the upper Caribou Trail should be closed to all ATV trafficbecause it has no shoulders and the spring ice storm left trees down in the ditches. Theroad has 23 curves and 26 hills along its 17 miles, he said. Passing the ordinance would make roads unsafe for the convenience of a few ATV riders, he said.
A debate took place over language in the ordinance that would allow the county to close certain roads to ATVs at its discretion. Commissioner Fenwick said the county would only do this if the road was in danger of being damaged (such as during spring breakup) or if bad weather made the road unsafe. The provision was not there to allow property owners to petition for permanently closing certain roads to ATVs. Commissioner Jim Johnson disagreed, however, saying he would like the board to be responsive to the requests of homeowner associations wishing to prohibit ATVs on their roads.
Jarid Lashinski asked if the county would close a road to bicycles or dog sleds at the request of a neighborhood. Johnson indicated that those were separate issues, but when it came to ATVs, “…I think we have an obligation to listen to those people.”
If 70% of the people on Hungry Jack petitioned to stop ATV use on their road, Johnson said, he thinks they should be heard. Lashinski stated that more than the other 30% of the people on that road would be impacted by a decision to close the road to ATVs. Betsy Perry of Grand Marais said that roads are public rights-of-way, and we all pay taxes to use them.
Johnson said his concerns include enforcement, signage, costs, noise, liability, pollution and environmental effects.
While the ordinance is not perfect, Lashinski said, it’s a lot better than the situation as is stands right now.
Tofte town supervisor Paul James made note of his township’s official request to the county to allow ATVs on the shoulder of the entire Sawbill Trail, including the paved section intersecting Highway 61. Commissioner Bruce Martinson said unanimous support for ATVs along the entire Sawbill Trail and the Cramer Road had been shown at both Tofte and Schroeder town meetings.
ATV Task Force member John McClure cited a letter from the City of Grand Marais urging commissioners to open county-owned streets within city limits to ATV traffic. Even without the ordinance, ATVs could legally ride on county roads as long as they kept to the outer banks of ditches. Since most county roads within the residential and downtown area of Grand Marais do not have ditches, ATVs have been allowed to ride on the far right side of the road.
The board considered honoring the requests of Tofte supervisors and the Grand Marais City Council, but to do so would have made a significant change in the proposed ordinance requiring another public notice period and another hearing. If the county board honored those requests, it would possibly face opposite challenges from neighborhood associations requesting exceptions to the proposed ordinance’s basic tenet authorizing ATVs on county-owned gravel road shoulders and inner ditch banks.
As the board neared the point of voting, Commissioner Martinson told fellow commissioners he would vote no because the ordinance did not honor Tofte’s request. He changed his mind, however, when the board agreed it would consider changes to the ordinance in the future.
Even without specific language authorizing ATVs on the shoulder of the paved section of the Sawbill Trail, ATVs will be seen legally driving there. Paul James stated that Sawbill Trail ditches are “totally undriveable,” which means that ATVers can ride as far to the right as possible on the shoulder of the road.
Commissioner Jan Hall said that her constituents have presented much more support for the ordinance than against it and that the board has supported other recreational amenities throughout the county.
Commissioner Fenwick recommended making the changes requested by Tofte and Grand Marais and then holding another public hearing. ATV club member Rhonda Silence urged the board to vote on the ordinance as it was in order to be done with the debate that has gone unresolved for so long. “We just want it to end,” she said.
ATV Task Force member John Bottger said the board should adopt the ordinance. “When a decision is made, you support the work of the committee that made it,” he said.
“The time has come to make a decision,” said Chet Lindskog of Grand Marais. “Stand up for what you have in front of you. …You can nitpick to death and never get anywhere.”
Commissioner Fenwick stated that when the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) was established, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) was instructed to enhance other types of recreation outside BWCAW boundaries. It has not done this, he said. Many people are getting to their cabins on old logging roads that remained open for recreational use after the logging sales were completed. He said he would like to wait until the USFS and DNR can enact a plan for ATV travel on their roads and trails, but that may not happen for years. ATVers have almost nowhere to ride, Fenwick said. “This is my effort to accommodate them. My goal is to do it in the most environmentally friendly way.” Riding on roadsides is better for the environment than riding on trails or in ditches, he said.
Regarding Commissioner Johnson’s desire to consider accommodating various wishes of property owners, Fenwick said, “I am the road authority. Citizens are not the road authority. It is my decision to make.”
We don’t need this ordinance, said Johnson.
Fenwick indicated that the people who were here many years ago made this community the kind of place new people want to live. Those new people should not be coming here and telling the people who built the community that they cannot enjoy the types of recreation they have always enjoyed.
With a vote of four ayes by commissioners Fenwick, Hall, Sobanja, and Martinson and one nay by Johnson, the ordinance was approved. Following applause from the crowd, the meeting was adjourned.
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