Shipley takes ATV bill off notice in House

Hank Hayes

Locally sponsored legislation in the Tennessee General Assembly that would authorize all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to use designated highways with certain restrictions has been taken off notice.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Tony Shipley, said he decided not to advance the legislation because of time constraints and to lend support to an “adventure tourism” bill sponsored by state Rep. Les Winningham, D-Huntsville.

Winningham’s bill directs state officials to develop recreational opportunities such as motorized trail riding, white-water rafting and rock climbing in rural areas.

Shipley’s bill would have allowed ATVs on locally approved highways and authorized the state to issue license plates to riders.

“It was taking longer to work on my DUI interlock bill,” Shipley, R-Kingsport, said of his separate legislation to require DUI offenders to use an ignition interlock device to drive their vehicles. “(Winningham’s) community wants (the legislation). ... He took my research and my material and combined it with his (legislation). ... (My bill) continued to morph and take more and more time. ... Contrary to things that were in the (news) paper, a lot of people support that (ATV) industry, and it is a real tourist endeavor. ... It got to be a whole lot more involved than I had time. ... I didn’t have time to do two heavy lifts at the same time.”

Shipley billed his ATV legislation as an “economic engine” modeled after ATV tourism efforts in Virginia and West Virginia.

He said his bill could be a sales tax generator and develop plate and fee revenue for state and local governments.

Shipley’s bill would have authorized ATVs to be registered at a cost of $14.50 per license plate and would have allowed participating local governments to charge a $25 fee to drivers using designated highways.

On his Web site (www.tonyshipleytn.com), Shipley said that even though a previous Times-News article on his bill mentioned Kingsport’s Bays Mountain Park as a place where ATVs might travel, “there has been no mention or thought of ever allowing ATVs in Bays Mountain Park.”

For that article, when Shipley was asked how the bill could go into effect locally and where an ATV would be able to travel, he responded: “In Kingsport there may not be a place, I don’t know. ... The local governments can identify those places if they have a desire to put this type of tourism in ... but forestry service roads are examples of places where these (ATV) things can be rode once you have a tag. ... Here’s an example: The fire access road we have at the top of Bays Mountain. That might be a place. ... I think, personally, there would be a lot of resistance in the community for that natural preserve to have any kind of motorized vehicle on it. ... That’s not for me to decide.”

Shipley’s ATV bill drew a comment from former Democratic state Rep. Nathan Vaughn of Kingsport during his campaign kickoff in early March to retake the 2nd House District seat held by Shipley.

“We’ve got an unemployment rate of 10.7 percent. We’ve got people out of work. We’ve got people losing their homes, and we’ve got legislators in Nashville passing ATV bills,” Vaughn said of Shipley’s legislation.

Winningham’s bill also would authorize the operation of ATVs on designated streets, roads or highways.

ATV use on highways is currently prohibited, except to cross roads, according to ATVSafety.gov. ATVs are also prohibited from state parks.

For more information go to www.capitol.tn.gov. Shipley’s bill is HB 3079. Winningham’s bill is HB 3904.

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Source: http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9021849

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