# ORV Ordinance Passed - Hamlin Township, Mason County



## hitechman (Feb 25, 2002)

Ludington Daily News (10/23/2012)

Hamlin OKs use of ORVs on roads 
Brian Mulherin - Daily News Staff Writer

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

HAMLIN TWP.  Not everyone in the crowd of about 65 people at Hamlin Township Hall expressed an opinion on off-road vehicles, but when there was a call for a show of hands, about 60 raised their hands to support the township allowing off-road vehicles. The township board voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance allowing ORV use on county and local roads between the hours of 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.. The vehicles are limited to using the rightmost maintained portion of roads and cannot exceed 25 mph. The ordinance takes effect 30 days after publication of a legal notice that will appear in the Ludington Daily News and will be reviewed 11 months later.

Township Supervisor Nancy Vandervest said she hopes the people riding in the township obey the 25 mph limit and follow the other provisions of the ordinance.

Any complaint that comes into this office or I hear of, that will be logged, Vandervest said. If there are a lot of complaints, I can almost guarantee it will not be renewed. Hopefully we will abide by the regulations.

In making the motion to pass the ordinance, Township Trustee Larry Rees noted that he was originally opposed to the ordinance, but given the overwhelming support at the meeting, he was swayed to give it a try for a year. Trustee Catherine Lewis seconded the motion.

The meeting opened with the reading of a list of suggestions from the townships attorney, then Vandervest opened the meeting to comments.

Barry Matthews said the ordinance had no place in Hamlin Township and said that the other nine townships with ordinances all have lower populations than Hamlin.

(We have) twice the population of Victory, 10 times the population of Logan, Matthews said.

He noted all the sounds of modern living in Hamlin Township, including snowmobiles and leaf blowers, and mocked those being called progress.

I beg you please do not pass this regulation, Matthews said.

Steve


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## hitechman (Feb 25, 2002)

He asked the township board to please consider his suggestions for the ordinance if they did decide to pass it, many of which echoed what the townships attorney suggested.

Other residents noted excessive speed on the roads where they live and asked the township not to open their roads to ORVs.

Mason County Road Commission Managing Director Gary Dittmer said he would put Hamlins ordinance on his boards agenda for possible action. Asked what roads he might withhold from ORV operation, he said high-traffic areas of Jebavy Drive, Lakeshore Drive, Dewey Road and Decker Road might be considered for exemption from the ordinance. The road commission can withhold up to 30 percent of a townships roads from ORV operation for safety purposes.

Sheriff Jeff Fiers said his department would voluntarily enforce the 25 mph limit in Hamlin Township and would find analog state laws for enforcing other portions of the township statute where necessary.

If theyre not operating on the far right of the road, we would write them for improper lane use, Fiers said.

Most of the meetings comments ran in support of establishing an ordinance.

A man who said he lives on Middle Bayou said he has a plow on his ORV and would like to be able to ride to his fathers house on South Bayou to plow him out without worrying about a ticket.

I use that to plow my driveway and his driveway, the man said. Im not out there tearing up the street, trying to disrupt anyones peace and quiet. I would like to be able to use my vehicle for lawful purposes to plow my neighbors, to plow my father.

Lysle Hansberger asked if the ordinance applied to golf carts and was informed that it does.

Ed Sladdick said he had multiple pieces of property, including some that are farmed,

It would be very nice to access those properties by using those ORVs, he said. It would be a benefit for us.

Letters of support for the ordinance were received from Bruce and Leah Mitchell as well as Vaughn Flewelling. Randall Wolf submitted suggested changes to the ordinance.

Rodney Thompson of Dewey Road responded to a question about turn signals not being required by the ordinance by noting that bicycles and horses dont need turn signals but are on the roads.

Horses do more damage than ATVs as far as staying on the road, Thompson said. They might smoke a little bit but they dont leave crap all over the road.

Robert McLain of Ash Street said he supported the ordinance because he believed people would use the roads instead of cutting across private property.

Mike Shaffer said he supported the ordinance because he had concerns about tickets for riding from the overflow parking lot at Wilson Hill Park to the boat ramp across Barnhart Road.

Barney Sandretto, who started the drive for the ordinance in Hamlin, said it was a good meeting and he was impressed by the turnout.

The time for ending at night is a little early, were all adults, Sandretto said. Other counties are 24/7, but I understand were a little more dense (population-wise) here and they want to make everybody happy. Whatever it takes to make everybody happy, Im all for it. 

Steve


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