After hearing extensive opinions on both sides of the issue for several months, the move to allow all-terrain vehicles on Gilpin roads succumbed quietly.
A motion to allow ATVs on selected township roads died Monday night.
Supervisors were considering an ordinance that would have allowed township roads to be designated “multi-use roads” and ATV operators would have been required to obtain annual permits from Gilpin police.
In addition to state highways and state-maintained roads, eight township roads would have been off limits. The proposal allowed ATV usage only between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Supervisors Susan Brown made the motion, adding that she had done “a lot of research” on the issue. But there was silence when supervisors Chairman Charles Stull asked for her measure to be brought to a formal vote of the township supervisors.
Those who spoke before the attempted vote either opposed the idea or asked for caution in allowing the usage.
Resident Jim Teeters said allowing ATVs “wouldn’t enhance the safety and welfare of the community.”
Teeters added that he had been regularly attending supervisors’ meeting since 2005 and “this was the most asinine measure to ever come before this board.”
Dr. Mark Diamond of the Pennsylvania Academy of Pediatrics said ATV accidents caused more than 100,000 visits to emergency rooms and many of the vehicles are “too powerful for kids to handle.”
“I have seen accidents, and I have seen people suffer,” Diamond said. “How will you feel after the first accident takes place?”
Supervisors said Solicitor Tim Miller, absent from Monday’s meeting, advised against the measure and said there’s no point in opening the township up to more liability.
