Club’s ATV proposal draws a crowd, opposition

A majority of those who spoke during a Town of Belgium Plan Commision meeting that drew more than 80 people and was held in Community Park because of the Covid-19 pandemic told officials last week they oppose a proposal from a local club that would allow all-terrain vehicles to be driven on town roads. 

Among those people was Lt. Justin Kaas of the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office, who said the department is opposed to allowing three-wheel all-terrain vehicles, ATVs, and four-wheel utility task vehicles, UTVs, on public roads. 

“My reason for this is simply safety. About 50% of ATV/UTV fatalities are ones on road,” he said, adding that increasing amounts of traffic and distracted driving make the vehicles more vulnerable to be hit by motorists.

Kaas also told Plan Commission members, who did not comment or take action on the proposal, that the vehicles are not designed to operate on roadways, given the type of tires, turn radius and high center of gravity that makes them more likely to tip over. The sentiment was referenced by several residents addressing the commission.

But Kevin Peiffer, president of the Belgium-based Lakeshore ATV/UTV Club’s Road Committee, said the vehicles are recommended for road use if municipalities allow it and that the tire issue has been fixed.

Janice Poth, who is opposed to the Club’s proposal, cited statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website. Of 27 fatal ATV/UTV accidents in 2018, 11 were on public roadways and 23 riders didn’t have required safety certificates. In 2019, 12 of 23 fatal accidents were on roadways and 15 lacked safety certificates.

Poth said she lives on one of the town’s busiest roads, Sauk Trail Road.

“There are no shoulders. There are no markings. There’s lots of blind spots,” she said. “I do not understand why the board would even consider putting these vehicles in that mix of traffic.”

The ordinance proposed by the Lakeshore ATV/UTV Club asks for permission to drive ATVs and UTVs on all town roads as well as county roads where the speed limit is 35 mph or less. 

That would include Jay Road, Sauk Trail Road, Silver Beach Road, Cedar Beach Road, Lake Church Road, Six Mile Road and portions of other roads, according to a map submitted by the club to the town.

Under the proposed ordinance, the vehicles could only be driven on the paved portions of roads but must stay to the “extreme right” side of the road unless making a left turn. Groups would be required to ride in single file.

Riders younger than 18 would be required to wear helmets. Operators younger than 16 must be “in direct verbal supervision of a parent or legal guardian” while driving an ATV or UTV.

Among residents’ concerns is that the Town of Belgium will become a destination for ATV and UTV riders from throughout the region if the vehicles are allowed on roads, but Club President Bob Hubing said that is not the intent of the proposal.

“We don’t want the Town of Belgium as a destination point,” Hubing said. “This is really for us people who live around here. All I want to do is drive down by my daughter and son-in-law and visit my grandkids.”

Peiffer said, “We can’t emphasize enough that this is for Town of Belgium residents, and that’s what it’s intended for. We understand that change is very difficult for some people and we understand that it’s hard for some people to just accept new things.”

While much of the opposition to the proposal has come from residents living near the lake, others there support it, Peiffer said.

“This decision should not be based on your W-2 Form or the amount of taxes that you pay,” he said, drawing groans from some of the audience.

But several people said the ordinance would do exactly what Hubing and Peiffer said it is not intended to accomplish.

“I understand what Bob was talking about. I get wanting to hop on it and go visit a relative or something like that, town resident Rick Paulus said. “But the minute you open this town up, we now open ourselves up to the planet.”

His wife Leslie Paulus said she has a lot of respect for the club and that it did its due diligence. But the vehicles, she said, would disturb the town’s peace.

“The thing that I thank God for the most is the quiet. Every day I think about that. Noise does affect how I experience my own home and my own property,” she said.

“This is a tremendous little jewel in this county and not all occupied by wealthy people with high W-2s. I can tell you we were one of them, but we worked hard for this,” she said in referencing Peiffer’s comment.

Bob Maxfield said he would be concerned about the ordinance if he lived on the lake, but “we’re not going to be running up and down the private roads there. We just want to go to our neighbor’s house, have a campfire and come home.”

The club, which has about 28 families and eight single members, is mostly made up of people older than 50.

“They’re not young kids running up and down the road,” Maxfield said.

Town resident Ralph Weber asked Town Clerk Ginger Murphy how many people contacted her to express an opinion about the proposed ordinance. Murphy said that of the 251 who contacted her, all opposed it.

Several people questioned how the ordinance would be enforced, given an already-busy Sheriff’s Office with more important matters to address. A few cited instances of ATVs already coming to the lake.

DNR Warden Tony Young said he is the one who enforces ATV and UTV rules and has been spending time in other communities doing just that.

“Some of the people here admitted to operating on roads without it being allowed. That kind of changes my outlook. Now I know I probably should spend some more time in the town of Belgium,” he said.

The DNR, he said, doesn’t have a position on the proposed ordinance. 

“We’re neutral on this. Obviously, we want people to get to the outdoors and recreate. That being said, we want things to be very safe,” he said.

Young provided accident statistics from this year, which include 16 or 17 fatal ATV accidents, with 80% of them on roads.

“That’s not really promoting people getting into the outdoors because that’s not being safe,” he said.

The proposed ordinance is similar to one adopted in the Town of Fredonia earlier this year, the first of its kind in Ozaukee County. Similar ordinances have been adopted in the towns of Farmington and Scott and is common, club members say, in the Kettle Moraine area and in northern Wisconsin.

The Town of Sherman is putting the issue to vote via an advisory referendum on the November ballot. Winker said the town is not ready to do that.

The next Plan Commission meeting is Sept. 23. Winker said he isn’t allowing public comment at it and would be “shocked” if a recommendation was made.

“We need to do more investigating,” he said.