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Commissioners signal possible residency restriction for ATV, golf-cart rules after enforcement complaints
Summary
Johnson County commissioners discussed tightening an ordinance allowing ATV/UTV/golf-cart use on county roads, including a possible residency requirement, after repeated complaints about nonresident users.
Johnson County commissioners discussed enforcement problems with the county ordinance permitting ATVs, UTVs and golf carts on county roads and indicated they may narrow eligibility to county residents.
At the Oct. 13 meeting a county commissioner described a long review process involving the sheriff’s office and the county legal department, saying the county has "nothing but complaints, problems, issues" since the program began. "I think we'll tweak this ordinance a little bit to make it just for county residents because they are causing a lot of problems," the commissioner said.
The commissioner and other board members said many complaints stem from nonresidents who use county roads without registering or paying fees. "The biggest complaints are from people that don't even reside in this county that wanna come through our county, but they don't wanna register. They don't wanna pay the fees," the commissioner said. He added that county legal staff have defended the county's approach in prior enforcement actions: "There's nothing against any legal action that we've done that the legal action can withstand."
The discussion produced no formal vote or ordinance amendment at the Oct. 13 meeting. Commissioners said staff and legal will continue to review the ordinance and enforcement practices; one commissioner suggested the board is putting the public "on notice" that residency and registration will be emphasized going forward.
The exchange occurred during new business and followed a detailed period of study, the commissioner said; no specific timetable or formal direction to prepare an amendment was recorded in the meeting minutes.
