How many times have you passed an all-terrain vehicle or utility terrain vehicle when driving on a country road?

Brown County Resident Paul Hazelwood was driving his UTV between his neighbor’s property to his house one day in 2022 coming back from fishing when he was pulled over by a Department of Natural Resources officer. Hazelwood said that he was not aware that driving an ATV or UTV on Brown County roads was illegal until the officer pointed it out. According to Hazelwood, that was when the idea of bringing this potential ordinance to the commissioners came to him.

“I want to be able to travel county roads on any type of vehicle I feel best suits the weather conditions, whether it’s snowing outside or I’m driving on a trail and there is a tree blocking that only my UTV would fit around,” Hazelwood said. “It’s another method of commuting through the county.”

There were two public hearings on June 25 and 26 to gauge public input on a potential ordinance.

County Commissioner Blake Wolpert told the Democrat that the overview for the ordinance is to allow ATVs and UTVs to be driven on county roads only, excluding Nashville and state roads.

“Nothing is written in stone yet, this was just a public hearing but it was a positive turnout,” Wolpert said. “The overview is that there was a nine-to-one ratio in favor from the general public. Dialing in on the specifics, people would have to be a resident of Brown County, ages 18 and older and a licensed driver. To be able to drive an ATV or UTV vehicle, the vehicle would also have to include safety features including lights, turn signals and those types of things.”

Wolpert said that people attended from all districts of the county, including a representative from the Cordry Sweetwater District.

Hazelwood said that the overall turnout for the public hearings was larger than expected with around 70 people on the first day and 35 on the second. He said that 18 people took to the podium on June 25 to support the ordinance, while 6 stepped up to oppose. On June 26, 18 people were in favor of the ordinance, with 2 being against it, according to Hazelwood.

“There was overwhelming support and lots of questions asked about if the ordinance would allow people to ride ATVs on all roads, or if it was limited to county,” Hazelwood said. “The main concern people brought up against the ordinance is if it is going to be limited to county residents only. Some people were worried someone could open a shop and rent them to tourists. This isn’t what we want, we want to be able to ride our ATVs to help a neighbor out, go to a neighbor’s property or take tools down to the field. If we wanted to go trail riding we would go to an ATV park that offered true thrill riding. We’re not catering to ATV tourism, we don’t have the trails or sites for it.”

Hazelwood said that the goal would be limiting the ordinance to county residents only.

The ATV ordinance’s first reading with the County Commissioners is scheduled for today at 2 p.m., with the final reading and vote on the schedule for July 17 at 6 p.m. in the County Office Building (201 Locust Lane).