Town Board to consider allowing ATVs

The Town Board will discuss whether to allow all-terrain and utility vehicles on town roads on Tuesday, July 6.

The Plan Commission on June 16, after an hour of discussion that didn’t allow for public input, voted 5-4 to recommend the Town Board write an ordinance to allow the vehicles on its roads.

None of the commission members said they had an issue with members of the Belgium-based Lakeshore ATV/UTV Club traveling on the roads, saying the club makes safety its priority. It’s nonmembers who would ruin it for the rest.

Those voting to allow ATVs were Tom Winker, Brian Schmidt, Dennis Dimmer, Jeremy Risch and Keith Schueller.

Those voting against were Matt Fuller, Charlie Parks, Al Poull and Tom Bichler.

Winker is town chairman and Bichler is a supervisor.

If one doesn’t change his mind, the deciding vote would be cast by Bill Janeshek, who attended a portion of the Plan Commission meeting.

The issue has brought out passionate supporters and opposers alike for the past year.

Last August, the Plan Commission held a meeting in Community Park to accommodate a crowd of more than 80 people and hear input from club members and those against the proposal. A lawyer representing people against the proposal addressed the Town Board at a fall meeting.

The Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office opposes allowing the vehicles on town roads while the Department of Natural Resources is neutral.

June 16 was the first time commissioners discussed the issue. They spent an hour hashing out details of the impact of what ATVs and UTVs may have on the town.

Fuller said new ATVs can travel at 90 mph and have speakers that create unwanted noise.

“Think of the convoys of these machines. There’s lots of downstream ramifications” if the ordinance passes, he said.

Dimmer, however, said Harley-Davidson motorcycles are much louder than ATVs.

“Those (ATVs) I don’t even hear,” he said.

Commission Chairman Tom Winker said, “Belgium is not going to be a destination. There’s one bar in the Town of Belgium.”

Parks, the town zoning administrator, cited the fact that more than 250 people contacted the town in opposition to the proposal.

Poull said insurance premiums in the town would rise if the ordinance passes, citing a letter from an attorney.

Fuller said if there’s an accident the town wouldn’t necessarily be sued but could be dragged into a lawsuit in some form.

The Town Board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday — since Monday, July 5, is the national observance of Independence Day — at Town Hall, 171 Main St.

If approved, the ordinance would go back to the Plan Commission to determine its wording.