Off-road vehicle proposal scrapped for public roads near foothills

Published 10:39 pm Wednesday, August 25, 2010

GOLD BAR — Snohomish County has dropped a plan to allow off-road vehicles on county roads near the state’s Reiter Foothills.

The idea was supposed to boost tourism and economic development by allowing off-road vehicles better access to the state recreation area. It would have applied to off-road motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and dune buggies.

Concerns from neighbors and law enforcement caused the County Council to reconsider. County Councilman Dave Somers received permission from colleagues last week to withdraw the proposal and to cancel a public hearing in September.

“We’ll continue to work with those cities out there to try to find ways to promote tourism, but this seemed like it was going to have more problems than it was worth,” Somers said.

The trails have been closed to motor vehicles since November. None is expected to reopen until next year, said Toni Droscher, a spokeswoman for the DNR’s recreation program. A timetable for letting motorized vehicles back on the trails is hard to predict, Droscher said, and depends on factors such as county permits.

State law allows county leaders in specific circumstances to allow off-road vehicles to travel on county roads. The obscure rules specify that can happen between cities with fewer than 3,000 people and a recreation area for off-road vehicles.

Somers’ idea was to apply those rules to roads near DNR’s Reiter Foothills Forest recreation area, which is between Gold Bar and Index. In addition to Reiter Road, the proposal also would have covered parts of Ley and May Creek roads.

The proposal would have required people driving off-road vehicles on the county roads to have a valid driver’s license and to obey state traffic laws.

Some people living near Index and Gold Bar objected, though.

In June, the Index Town Council passed a unanimous resolution against the idea. A letter to Somers from Index Mayor Bruce Albert warned it would compromise public safety on a narrow road with blind corners.

Locals also showed up at a Gold Bar city meeting this month to oppose the county ordinance.

“The biggest complaint was that if you opened up the roads to ORV (off-road-vehicle) traffic, we don’t have the law enforcement capacity out here to make sure it’s obeyed,” Gold Bar Mayor Joe Beavers said.

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said it doesn’t have extra deputies for the area. Experience also tells them the ordinance, had it passed, would have led to more complaints about noise and speed.

“I don’t know that there are too many neighborhoods that would want that kind of traffic, honestly,” sheriff’s office Bureau Chief Kevin Prentiss said. “Right now, we don’t have additional people to put up there.”

The idea isn’t dead, just dormant, said Ted Jackson, who lives in the area and has been involved in trail issues. After the public meeting, Jackson said several people in the area told him they didn’t think it was such a bad idea. It’s something they’re likely to revisit, he said, once the state moves the project further along.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com.