Fewer than 30 people live in Averill, an Essex County town where almost every housing unit in 2010 was seasonal or recreational.
The remote community is the latest in the Northeast Kingdom to debate whether all-terrain vehicles should be allowed on municipal roads.
Property owners and residents have sent nearly 45 letters since August to the Unified Towns and Gores Board of Governors, the body representing Averill and five other communities in Vermont’s northeasternmost county.
The topic: whether to ban ATVers from Cottage Road, one of only three town roads in the board’s area. Officials opened all three to ATVs in 2016.
Thirty-three of the letters urged board members to rescind that law — just for Cottage Road, or entirely.
On Monday, the board voted to scrap the ordinance and write one that excludes Cottage Road, but still allows ATVs on the other two routes. Four of the five board members voted for the move. The other, a new member, abstained.
“Because of the outcry of letters that we got, I can’t in good faith really say that we should be letting four-wheelers on that road, at least at this time,” board member Doug Jenks said. “It’s hard for me to do that, but I don’t feel that it’s right for me to go against so many.”
Debates about ATVs often drill into a question of Vermont’s character: Is it a place of peace and quiet or unbridled outdoor fun?
That question is supercharged in Averill, a town many consider an escape, even compared to other remote parts of Vermont.
“It is an extremely special place. Because it is quiet, clean, simple, unspoiled, timeless. These are rare qualities in the modern world,” wrote camper David Campbell in an Oct. 8 letter to the board.
“We don’t want the noise, smell, intimidating group ride attitudes … and the safety issues that come with ATVs,” Campbell wrote.
Rebecca Sellet-Campbell elaborated.
“I appreciate the beauty of the lake and surrounding woods, the loons and other wildlife and the ability to stroll and ride my bike on quiet dirt roads with little traffic,” she wrote in an Oct. 11 letter.
Many writers described how their families had owned cottages on the road for decades undisturbed. They recounted negative experiences with ATVers.
“ATVs are the antithesis of what Averill has always stood for,” wrote resident Doug Gingras. “Let’s not open the flood gates and change the culture of this part of the Kingdom.”
The few writers supporting ATVs contended that the vehicles are part of a long tradition of recreation in the area.
“Three generations have enjoyed all that Vermont has to offer including the increasingly popular use of UTVs and other ATVs,” Brian and Tim Hauschild wrote in an Aug. 25 letter.
“Many families come to Vermont for the same reasons that 3 generations of my family has,” they wrote, “to enjoy the great outdoors of the Northeast Kingdom.”
Pat Wiggett, who owns a Cottage Road home, said most residents weren’t in town when officials passed the the ATV law.
“None of the property owners on the road were really aware that there had ever been an ordinance passed about it, and suddenly ATVs starting showing up,” Wiggett said.
Dan Johnson, a Canaan resident, said in an interview that he takes care of his friend’s properties in Averill. The two men and others enjoy riding ATVs, and they appreciated using Cottage Road to reach nearby trails.
He called the board’s vote “asinine,” stressing that he’s heard no safety complaints.
“It’s not like we’re a bunch of yahoos tearing up with mud tires and everything else,” Johnson said.
He acknowledged that some people disregard rules and don’t realize “how fragile this permission was.”
“We always treated it like, ‘Okay, they’re allowing us to go from here to there — they don’t have to do it,’” Johnson said.
He added: “Everybody should be able to enjoy the Northeast Kingdom in the manner that they like to.”
