NEWPORT — All-terrain vehicles will ride on roads in this Northeast Kingdom city after all.
Residents on Tuesday rebuked an effort to repeal an ordinance allowing ATV travel on municipal roads in a vote that drew more than 700 to the polls.
Voters reaffirmed the City Council’s Oct. 21 ordinance 414–294, according to City Clerk Jim Johnson.
The decision marks a turning point in the city’s months-long saga surrounding ATV use.
Throughout this past fall, officials tackled the question of allowing the vehicles on select roads around downtown. Advocates and opponents turned out in numbers at several meetings to speak about the proposed route, which included some residential areas.
As in other Northeast Kingdom communities over the last year, debate in Newport centered on potential business boosts from ATVers and concerns about noise, traffic and safety.
Many speakers at those meetings — including Mayor Paul Monette and City Manager Laura Dolgin — backed the idea, emphasizing the need to encourage tourism in the Orleans County community.
Others, including some city council members, believed the decision had been rushed, and that officials had ignored the concerns of people in neighborhoods that ATVs would travel through. Council President Julie Raboin, who opposed the ordinance, joined residents in calling for a ballot measure.
A group of citizens gathered enough signatures by the end of November to force a public vote on the ordinance.
Several supporters of the ATV ordinance hoisted signs outside the city office building Tuesday afternoon, waving to passing motorists.
“We’re feeling very confident in the vote,” said Scott Jenness, president of the Borderline Ridge Riders ATV club, standing on the sidewalk.
“I feel we got the message out there and tried to educate the public on what we’re trying to achieve,” said Jenness, who has been the chief advocate for the proposal.
He said that if his side were to win, he and others would begin talking to the city public works department to figure out signage for the spring season.
“And get ready to come into the city and prove that we can manage this properly, and it will be controlled, and it will work just fine,” he said.
Pam Ladds, a member of the petition group, was speaking with passersby on the sidewalk, too.
“Whether they vote for it or against it, it’s about citizen participation,” she said. “We were excluded from that at the beginning of this, and that’s just not OK.”
She said that if voters chose to keep the ordinance, she hopes officials will be open to negotiation and that both sides can achieve a win-win deal.
Jenness said the season typically begins May 15 and stretches to Oct. 1.
“If there are issues with the route, with policing, whatever, we’ll investigate,” he said. “We can adjust. It’s not set in stone — it’s a trial.”
