ATVs and UTVs will be allowed to take to city streets in Ripon — as soon as proper signage is posted, which could take a few months.
The Ripon Common Council voted 5-3 Monday to approve an ordinance that would enable ATVs and UTVs to utilize city roadways. Alds. John Splitt, Howard Hansen and Ellen Sorensen cast “no” votes.
The ordinance included a “sunset clause,” which allows the Common Council to revisit the issue in a year or to repeal it at any time if the city runs into problems.
Additionally, Police Chief Bill Wallner will provide monthly reports to the council regarding issues the Ripon Police Department notices regarding ATVs and UTVs.
The ATV/UTV issue has surfaced at the last three Common Council meetings as those in favor of allowing the vehicles to use city streets have attended the meetings en masse.
At the council’s previous meeting, it appeared that enough council members were in favor of passing an ordinance only allowing UTVs on city roadways.
ATVs are typically designed for single riders, while UTVs are generally bigger and designed with a cabin for two to four riders.
However, in incorporating the suggested revisions after the last meeting, officials contacted the DNR, which informed them that the city could enable both to use its streets or neither — not one or the other.
“The DNR’s interpretation of the law concerning ATV use and UTV use is [that] you cannot separate them,” Wallner said. “If you have an ordinance proposal, it has to include both ATVs and UTVs together. … There’s not an opportunity to separate those because of state statute.”
The police chief described the addition of a sunset clause to the ordinance as “important” because it gives the council the opportunity to reevaluate the situation in case issues arise.
He said the ordinance also offers consistent hours of operation for ATVs and UTVS with the town of Ripon: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
It also limits the usage of city streets for ATVs and UTVs to only those with a valid driver’s license, as well as requires anyone under 18 — and passengers of someone under 18 — to wear a helmet at all times.
Additionally, the ordinance prohibits ATV/UTV parking on the 100, 200 and 300 blocks of Watson Street, but allows the vehicles to utilize municipal parking lots throughout the city, including downtown.
In asking other law enforcement officials from similarly sized communities about ATVs and UTVs, Wallner noted the municipalities that have seen the fewest problems have opened all of their streets to ATV and UTV use.
Those communities, like Ripon, generally only have a top speed limit of 35 mph within city limits, he said.
The police chief added the ordinance is easy to understand and interpret, both for law enforcement and ATV/UTV enthusiasts.
“It’s a strong ordinance that provides significant safety measures concerning operation, concerning speeds [and] concerning who can operate and who cannot operate,” Wallner said. “It also provides an opportunity for revocation of your privilege, if it becomes an issue.”
While the ordinance was ultimately approved by the Common Council, the DNR’s clarification that ATVs could not be separated from UTVs cost it at least one vote, if not two.
Hansen and Splitt indicated an openness to allowing UTVs to use city streets at the previous meeting.
“If we could have made this a UTV-only ordinance and not include the ATVs, I’d have been in favor of it,” Hansen said. “But having to include ATVs, to me, they’re more like a snowmobile and I’ve owned snowmobiles. I can’t support this as combining the ATVs and UTVs.”
Meanwhile, Alds. Paige Kane and Jolene Schatzinger felt that declining to approve the ordinance, which they described as a temporary trial run, would cause the issue to continue being brought to the Common Council.
“We don’t know if it’s going to work if we don’t try it,” Kane said. “If we don’t try it, this is going to come up again and again. If we vote in favor of trying it with this one-year sunset clause, we will know in a year if this is something that has worked out or has not.”
Schatzinger added she came to the issue “very skeptical” but felt confident Ripon’s ordinance combined “the best” qualities from other communities that have opened roads to the vehicles.
“I’m someone who likes to make decisions on data; and, as of right now, we don’t have data,” she said. “But if we try this with the expiration clause … if we see issues, we will then have data to help guide our decision.”
City streets will not be open for ATV/UTV use until proper signage is installed and official publication of the ordinance has occurred. ATV/UTV clubs have indicated that they will cover the cost of signage.
“It will likely be sometime before operation is permitted on roadways until those tasks are completed,” the Ripon Police Department said on its Facebook page Tuesday morning.
At the meeting, Wallner and City Administrator Adam Sonntag encouraged ATV and UTV enthusiasts to continue to watch the city and police department social media pages for updates.
In other news
In other news from the Ripon Common Council meeting:
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The Common Council approved an open container event permit for Ripon Main Street’s Holiday Wine Walk event on Nov. 4. Main Street Executive Director Craig Tebon told the council that more than 500 tickets for the event already were sold.
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Additionally, the council reviewed the 2022 Sanitary Survey Report for the Ripon Water Utility, which found deficiencies and non-compliance issues within the city’s water system. For more information, see next week’s edition of the Ripon Commonwealth Press.
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The Common Council also approved ambulance service agreements between Ripon Guardian Ambulance and the surrounding townships it serves, as well as creating a paramedic captain position. For more on this, see next week’s edition of the Ripon Commonwealth Press.
