ROYALTON — Residents will take a second crack at adopting an all-terrain vehicle policy on Town Meeting Day. The question has remained a divisive one after last year’s meeting, where voters — by a single ballot — directed the Selectboard to draft an ordinance opening some roads to ATVs.

The Selectboard adopted the ordinance at the end of December, now available online in the Documents and Reports section of the town of Royalton website. It subjects ATVs to town speed limits as well as operational hours and seasons, permits only single-file travel and prohibits racing. It sets fines for breaking these restrictions, and lists which roads are open to use.

Written into the ordinance is that it can be revisited annually.

But now that it’s finally in place, it could be struck down by voters.

After the vote last March, the Selectboard created an ATV committee to gather information on their use and regulation in advance of drafting the ordinance. But the single-vote margin in March meant divisions were far from bridged. Since then, what some have characterized as a “culture war” has played out in a series of public meetings, with those in opposition continuing to argue against the vehicles’ noise and safety risks. Residents petitioned to have the issue back on this year’s ballot.

“Knowing the way the statute is written, we thought the only logical conclusion was to go ahead and pass the ordinance — and it’s a curtailed ordinance, a very narrow one. And then if the town rejects it, we think it’s the end of the story, at least for awhile,” Selectboard Vice Chairman David Barker said.

Stewart Ketcham, a retired veterinarian and Royalton resident, has been vocal in his objection to the ordinance.

“They talk about a 20 mile (per hour) speed limit, but they’re also driving an off-road vehicle,” Ketcham said. “And if a policeman comes along and wants to enforce that speed limit, there’s no way they’re going to be able to follow them, to enforce the speed limit.”

Ketcham is also concerned for the well-being of the riders, as well as any drivers they could have accidents with.

“I wish that they would be a little more respectful of people who don’t appreciate the noise that they make. They ride fast, they can be noisy, they tend to go in long trains of ten or more, which kind of defeats the purpose of what they say ‘getting back to nature,’ ” he said.

Ian Mackenzie, president of ATV-club The Cascadnac Valley Wheelers, said he isn’t surprised by the pushback.

“We knew there was always going to be a re-vote. Unfortunately, it seems like everyone wants to use a moving target for us. ‘We don’t like it because of this, and then we don’t like it because of that,’ they say,” observed Mackenzie, who has been a primary proponent of the ordinance.

“They want to say we’re bad for the environment. They point to erosion. Multiple times I’ve tried to show them that ATV trails have to follow the same best management practices for stabilizing surfaces and erosion. They want to automatically discount it, and they just use the buzzword ‘erosion.’”

Sandy Conrad, chairwoman of the ATV committee, argues that the ordinance will bring more order to the sport.

“There’s nothing the police can do if they’re called because there is no ordinance. It provides law and structure to the activity,” Conrad said.

Conrad, not an ATV-rider herself, also just thinks its fair.

“Lots of people who are opposed say, ‘it only won by one vote,’ ” Conrad said.

Her argument is that it won by 187 votes.

“If we as a town, say that we want to represent and be inclusive of all of our community members, then 50% of our community members want to have this outdoor activity in their lives,” Conrad said. “If we ignore that, we’re ignoring half of our community, and half of their voices.”

“And we do that a lot.”

Frances Mize is a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at fmize@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.