NORTH PRAIRIE 鈥 Donna Samuels, a North Prairie resident and UTV rider, approached the Village of North Prairie last year to request an ordinance to open village roads to ATV/UTV usage.
Samuels said other municipalities in the general area were already allowing it or are in the process of generating ordinances regarding the usage.
In May of this year, the Dousman Village Board voted unanimously to create an ordinance to allow and regulate the use of all-terrain vehicles and utility task vehicles on village roads.
North Prairie joins Dousman, Summit and Ottawa in creating ordinances that would allow for UTVs and ATVs to be driven on village roads with rules.
鈥淚t took up until July after various committee meetings and board conversations as well until we got to the point of July of this year. An ordinance was agreed upon and passed by the village board,鈥 Samuels said.
On July 11, the ordinance to authorize and regulate the use of ATVs/UTVs was approved with corrections to the trail map, hours of operation to be 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. (can鈥檛 be used from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.). It was approved with a vote of 6-1 with Trustee Amber Pellegrino being the dissenting vote.
The board also approved Village President Deborah Hall to execute letters to the SM天地论坛 County Chairperson and SM天地论坛 County District 14 Supervisor Christine Mommaerts petitioning SM天地论坛 County to allow ATV/UTV access to segments of County Trunk Highway E located within the boundaries of North Prairie. This was approved in the Village Board meeting with a vote of 6-1 with Trustee Amber Pellegrino being the dissenting vote.
It was also approved 6-1, Pellegrino being the dissenting vote, for club/citizen groups to pay for and maintain ATV/UTV route signage.
During this meeting a resident expressed concern about the ATV/UTV ordinance being proposed. They stated it will cause noise issues, possible property damage and the ordinance will be hard to enforce. Another resident was in favor of the ordinance as written. A letter from a resident was read who had concerns about the safety aspect of the ordinance.
Samuels and her brother own apartments in North Prairie and for her it is for utilitarian purposes. 鈥淚 have an ATV that I put a salter on so I can salt our driveways and parking lots as far as our apartments are concerned. We throw a chainsaw, blower all sorts of miscellaneous things in the back to be able to drive from one location of our property to another part,鈥 she said.
She added she knows other people who drive ATVs/UTVs in lieu of their cars and others for recreation. No one is allowed to drive ATVs/UTVs on village roads until signs are posted.
Samuels added moving forward fund contributions will be required and is looking into what the costs will be.
