Large crowd expected for ORV hearing

Eric Levine

Sanilac County Commissioners will hold a public hearing for an off-road-vehicle ordinance April 13, and they are expecting a large audience.

Although April 13 is a scheduled meeting day, the hearing won't be held during the commission's regular afternoon session. Commissioners will convene in the board chambers in the courthouse at 3:30 p.m. to conduct business, and then will recess until 6 p.m. that evening for the hearing in order to give the public more opportunity to attend.

And, if a large crowd shows up, the location may be changed to the circuit courtroom upstairs, which has more seating.

"It's a hot topic," said Commissioner Jamie Daws. "In all fairness (to the public), we should have a night meeting."

The purpose of the ordinance is to allow ORVs to travel on roads in the county. A recently amended state law permits ORV traffic in the Thumb area, but requires that the individual counties, and or local units of government - cities, villages and townships, adopt ordinances.

The issue has generated some controversy. At a recent commission meeting, proponents of opening roads to ORVs urged the board to act quickly on an ordinance because of the potential for boosting the local economy with tourism dollars, while others brought up concerns about traffic enforcement, noise and speed issues, and liability for private property owners.

Commissioners decided last week that they will not vote on the proposed ordinance on April 13. Instead, the board will give the ORV committee, which is drafting the document, time to make changes after listening to the comments. Commissioners also want to allow local governments time to review any revisions before the proposal is brought to the board for a vote. The local governments would be able to notify the board if they wanted to opt out of the ordinance.

The committee is expected to complete the proposal that will be presented at the hearing in early March. Commissioners have directed the county clerk to mail copies of the document to local governments on March 8.

The board also voted last week to send certified letters to the county road commission and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on Feb. 26, notifying them of the their intent to consider an ORV ordinance on April 13.

The letter is in accordance with state law that requires the agencies be notified of the hearing not less than 45 days prior to the date.

Under the ordinance, the county can open some or all roads to ORVs. State law also permits the road commission to close up to 30 percent of the roads to ORVs, and gives local governments the authority to close all or some of their roads.

The county is not required to adopt an ordinance. However, if the commission doesn't approve one, it's possible that each local government could approve their own ordinance, which could make police enforcement a nightmare, commissioners have been told.

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Source: http://sanilaccountynews.mihomepaper.com/news/2010-03-03/News/Large_crowd_expected_for_ORV_hearing.html

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