Comment on marijuana moratorium • Public comment sought on ATV road access • Wedding/event center proposed
ATVs
Court order requires closure of 600 miles of roads to ATVs
Okanogan County Commissioner Andy Hover has been talking with all-terrain vehicle (ATV) riders, public land agencies and environmental groups to try to come up with a balanced policy that will satisfy a court order — finalized last week — to consider environmental impacts before …
County must close 597 miles of roads to ATV traffic
Okanogan County will have to close 597 miles of roads to all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and do a thorough review of possible environmental impacts before opening any more roads to the vehicles.
The ruling is …
Commissioners hear opposition to lower speeds on W. Chewuch Road
The Okanogan County commissioners have postponed a decision on lowering speed limits on two Methow Valley Roads, but they have lots of input to consider — in favor of the lower speed on the Gold Creek Loop Road but opposed to a reduction on West Chewuch Road.
The commissioners have …
Long battle expected over county zoning code
Okanogan County has filed responses denying all claims in two lawsuits that challenge the county’s new zoning code.
The county says the plaintiffs’ claims that the new code fails to protect the county’s natural resources — in particular its water and farmland — lack factual …
ATV issue rolls back onto streets of Winthrop
Okanogan County Commissioner Jim DeTro’s recent recreational all-terrain vehicle trip from Conconully to Winthrop with a bunch of friends has sparked renewed debate over how the town of Winthrop views ATVs.
Although apparently in violation of the town’s…
County asks state’s high court to hear ATV case
Plaintiffs cite potential environmental damage to miles of local roads By Marcy Stamper Okanogan County is petitioning the state Supreme Court to hear a case about ATVs’ access to 600 miles of county roads, saying the environmental groups that filed the original lawsuit have not shown they suffered actual harm from the county’s decision to […]
State appeals court declines to reconsider ATV decision
Okanogan County’s environmental analysis of the impact of allowing all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to use almost 600 miles of county roads will not get a re-hearing by the state Court of Appeals, which last week declined the county’s request to reconsider its June ruling.
The court also rejected a request by the plaintiffs, the Methow Valley Citizens’ Council (MVCC) and Conservation Northwest, to …
County asks appeals court to review ATV ruling
Attorneys for Okanogan County have asked the state Court of Appeals in Spokane to reconsider a ruling issued last month that found the county had failed to adequately analyze the environmental impacts of opening almost 600 miles of roads to wheeled all-terrain vehicles (ATVs).
The county’s motion for reconsideration challenges the court’s ruling on technical procedural …
Court voids county ATV ordinance, closing roads to the vehicles
Environmental review called ‘superficial’ By Marcy Stamper Okanogan County’s ordinance opening almost 600 miles of roads to wheeled all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) has been invalidated because the county failed to analyze the environmental impacts of allowing ATVs to use these roads, the state Court of Appeals in Spokane ruled last week. In a ruling that the […]
