ROYALTON — Divisions were stark but civility remained the norm during a special meeting the Selectboard hosted on Tuesday night to hear public comment on a draft all-terrain vehicle ordinance.
Royalton residents and others who had a stake in the discussion took turns addressing the Selectboard and a crowd of about 40 people at the Royalton Academy.
“I don’t see it as a huge impact; there aren’t that many riders,” said Jim Hudson, who allows four-wheelers on his property. “My experience is they’re very respectful, and many have asked for permission to be on my property. It’s a generosity to let people do what they enjoy.”
But Kate George said she has apprehensions.
“All it takes is a couple of 15-year-olds who don’t have respect to cause damage,” George said. “I don’t think it’s fair for the town to tell me I have to have these people on my roads when they’re not the ones paying for them to be maintained.”
As of now, there are no rules on the books in Royalton addressing all-terrain vehicle use, but a Town Meeting vote last March came out in favor of having the Selectboard draft an ordinance. In response, the Selectboard created an ATV committee to gather information on their use and regulation.
They received 10 applications from interested residents and decided to accept all of them.
“We felt just based on their interests that we had all points of view represented,” Vice Chair of the Selectboard David Barker said in an interview.
The ordinance — now available online at the Documents and Reports section of the town of Royalton website — subjects ATVs to town speed limits as well as operational hours and seasons, permits only single-file travel and prohibits racing. It also sets fines for breaking these restrictions.
The draft proposes 19 sections of Royalton highways, including class IV and town roads, as options for permitted ATV travel. As the Selectboard continues deliberations, the final ordinance could include any or none of the roadways proposed.
Peter Anderson, a member of the Royalton Planning Commission as well as the ATV Committee, presented on Tuesday a series of maps from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources indicating wildlife corridors that he said would be disturbed by the permission of ATVs in certain areas of Royalton.
“This is not about roads; this is how we’re going to use the land that we live on,” Anderson said.
Ian Mackenzie, another member of the ATV committee and a vocal proponent for their use, advocated measured regulation.
“I’m not here to solve it all. We envisioned doing this piece by piece and making sure that it checked all the boxes,” Mackenzie said, adding that if ATV use in town got out of hand, he would want to shut it down.
“For me, it’s getting older people back into the woods that they came from,” said Sandy Conrad, chairwoman of the ATV Committee.
Sandy also emphasized that “half of the community should be able to recreate in the woods in the way they want to,” in a nod to the slim passage of the vote at Town Meeting in March, 185-184.
Other residents, like Julie Howe, expressed concerns about how proper use of the vehicles would be enforced if an ordinance did pass.
“I don’t know how you make people stay on the trails and not veer off onto private property,” Howe said.
But Myra Hudson said that ATVs near her property are infrequent, and when they do ride by, they are conscientious.
“I love to experience nature, and I know that this community that rides ATVs also does. I just hope that people don’t get so deep in fear that they keep others from enjoying the woods,” Hudson said.
“I feel that, at the end of the day, this is a culture war,” Hudson added.
The Selectboard plans on determining by Aug. 23 whether or not there will be an ordinance, Barker said.
If the board approves an ordinance, there would be around 40 days for residents to appeal the vote by gathering the requisite number of signatures for a petition.
Frances Mize is a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at 603-727-3242 or fmize@vnews.com.