Prohibitions still on the books for Twisp, Winthrop streets
As ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) grow more popular and sophisticated — with some models resembling cars or jeeps — questions about where people can ride them have resurfaced, most recently in Twisp.
Long-time resident Bob Ulrich attended his first Twisp Town Council meeting in his 55 years in town to ask about ATV policy. Ulrich told the council at their meeting on Tuesday (Aug. 25) that he’d ridden his side-by-side (one of many terms for ATVs) into town on the Fourth of July.
“I got up and proceeded to ride it — or get in it and drive it — two blocks to have a cup of coffee,” Ulrich said. “I did it, and I guess that that is absolutely a criminal offense, to ride… a side-by-side that is completely legal.” Ulrich told the council about a recent trip to Montana, where he freely rode the side-by-side on regular roads.
Twisp Police Chief Paul Budrow, who said he’d suggested Ulrich speak to the Town Council, told the council that when he was Okanogan County sheriff, he saw people riding ATVs in all the towns in the county — except Twisp and Winthrop — and that the vehicles were “very well accepted.”
But since returning to Twisp in April to become police chief, Budrow has stopped a dozen ATVs in town. These ATVs are completely street-legal, and people pay the same taxes on them as on cars, Budrow said. But because the town council decided years ago that ATVs aren’t allowed in town, he’s obliged to pull them over.
Under a 2013 state law, counties and towns can allow a special class of ATVs called wheeled ATVs (WATVs) to ride on roads of 35 miles per hour (mph) or less. WATVs have safety features including rear-view mirrors and lights and are registered with the state.
But opening those roads to WATVs is not automatic — the jurisdiction must decide to allow them to use the roads. To Budrow, the state is doing the law backwards, telling towns and counties they can be part of it if they choose to be, he said in an interview after the meeting.
Errands in town
Many riders are locals who want to go out for a drink, fill their gas tank or buy groceries, and they typically don’t understand that the law hasn’t been changed to make ATVs legal in town, Budrow told the Town Council. Modern ATVs, which can cost $60,000, save on fuel and cause less wear-and-tear on roads, he said.
ATVs are, by default, prohibited in towns unless specifically allowed by ordinance, Twisp Mayor Hans Smith said in an interview after the meeting.
Towns don’t need to post signs — it’s up to the WATV rider to check the local government’s website to find out if use is allowed and where it’s allowed, according to the Municipal Research and Services Center, a nonprofit organization that provides legal and policy guidance to local governments in Washington.
Budrow conceded that Twisp hasn’t cultivated a tourist industry around ATVs the way Conconully has, where people can ride everywhere and easily connect with ATV routes. The sheer number of riders has sometimes caused friction among residents, he said.
Confronted by riders who insist that their vehicle is street-legal, Budrow explains the restrictions in the law and issues a warning, but he hasn’t ticketed anyone yet. He also advises them to talk to the Town Council if they want WATVs to be legal.
Everyone he’s stopped hadn’t realized that, despite being road-legal, their ATV was not allowed on town streets, Budrow said. In fact, Ulrich’s ATV was parked on a town street when Budrow spotted it. He looked up the registration and followed up with Ulrich to explain the law.
Winthrop’s situation
Although Winthrop Marshal Ty Sheehan sees WATVs driving around town, his ability to cite the operators is limited by Winthrop’s unclear ordinances, Sheehan said. The lack of clarity has been frustrating for him. “Give me an ordinance I can enforce,” Sheehan said in comments after a Winthrop Town Council meeting in June.
Earlier this year, some residents lobbied the council to allow WATVs in Winthrop, but that drew negative public backlash, prompting the council to wait for Okanogan County to decide the status of roads that lead to town. Okanogan County Commissioner Andy Hover told the Town Council that he wouldn’t support opening any roads to the town limits unless Winthrop asked the county to do so.
The issue has created controversy since the law changed. ATV enthusiasts are frustrated there are no routes that would allow a scenic outing to the Methow. Meanwhile, some Methow Valley residents have said the vehicles would shatter the valley’s quiet and appeal as a destination for nonmotorized recreation.
Possible routes?
At the Twisp Town Council meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Will Menzies suggested that comments about ATVs be directed to a working group that brought together ATV riders, environmentalists and government agencies. The group was convened by the Methow Valley Trails Collaborative at the suggestion of the Methow Valley Ranger District and Okanogan County commissioners. Councilmember Tim Matsui represents Twisp in the group.
In April, the group proposed a map for further review, with five routes connecting county roads in the Methow Valley with U.S. Forest Service roads. It includes suggestions to minimize impacts on wildlife habitat and residential neighborhoods.
When the proposed routes were released, there was no decision by the Forest Service or Okanogan County about whether they’d conduct an environmental review, nor what the timing would be, trails collaborative Director Allen Jircik said.
After the state law went into effect, the Okanogan County commissioners initially allowed WATVs to ride on all county roads that are 35 mph or lower. But that was blocked by a lawsuit filed by the Methow Valley Citizens Council and Conservation Northwest.
The two groups successfully argued that the county was required to analyze the potential environmental impacts of allowing WATVs to use the roads.
Since ATVs are designed to travel on all terrain, the lawsuit contended that some riders might be tempted to leave the roadway and ride in meadows, wetlands or other sensitive areas.
After a thorough review of roads in eastern and northern Okanogan County, the commissioners opened roads that didn’t create environmental hazards. But they never completed that process for the Methow Valley. The citizens council and Conservation Northwest are now participants in the ATV working group.
A 2014 decision by the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest to allow ATVs to ride on forest roads was halted the following year when other environmental groups sued, arguing that such changes required a complete review of the travel-management plan for the entire forest, some 3.8 million acres.
Recent proposals by the Forest Service to amend the Roadless Area Conservation Rule and the travel-management process could further complicate the issue.
The Okanogan County Public Works Department currently has no activity regarding ATV routes, County Engineer Josh Thomson said this week.
