Some hear ATMS in allowing ATVS; others cry NIMBY

MORRISTOWN, Vt. — Tom and Cynthia Cloutier treasure spending time on their porch, eating dinner on their deck with a view of the mountains, and generally just enjoying the quiet of living in rural Vermont in the home they bought in 2018 after retirement.

That all changed the following year, when a section of road that abuts their property was opened to all-terrain vehicles that previously were not permitted on roads. Frequently, when they’d go outside, noisy ATVS would be coming down the road, said Tom Cloutier.

“Overnight our Silver Ridge (Road) became a superhighway of ATVS,” he said. “We could hear these machines inside our home, but when we went outside, we could not have a conversation, sit on our front porch quietly with our coffee, or eat dinner on our deck or enjoy watching the sunset.”

What started as a trial run in Morristown in 2019 ended last year after a complaint, a town official said.

Now, an ATV group is asking the town to again open up a section of the road and parts of other roads so that riders can get gas, stay or park at a local motel and eat at local restaurants. The access would connect them to a neighboring community where ATVS are legal on roads.

Their town has joined a small but growing list of rural communities across the country that have opened or are considering whether to open up their roads to ATVS, with some taking advantage of the economic benefits that come with outdoor tourism.

Even though it was closed for two months last year during the pandemic, the 1,000-mile Hatfield-mccoy Trails in West Virginia last year sold its highest number of annual trail permits at nearly 65,000, according to the office of Gov. Jim Justice, and ATV permits for Maine residents jumped 6%, officials said.

It’s a great economic driver for those communities, said Scott Schloegel, senior vice president for government relations for the Recreational Off-highway Vehicle Association,

about the Hatfield-mccoy trail network.

Officials with the Open Space & Trails Department in Summit County, Colorado, have noticed an increase in off-highway vehicle use of trails in recent years. ATV trails are also accessible to hikers, bikers and equestrians, the department said.

Residents of Morristown, Vermont, are expected to vote on the ATV proposal this fall.