The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

The city of Dayton is currently in the pro­cess of adopting an ORV ordinance that would work in conjunction with Columbia County's already existing ordinance allowing ORVs access to the forest service boundaries on Eckler and Maloney Mountains via Mustard Hollow Road. This city ordinance, if passed, would allow ORVs to access Mustard Hollow Road from within the city limits of Day­ton. Copies of the ordinance can be downloaded from www.daytonwa.com. During the first public hearing that held July 12, many concerns were brought up about liability insurance. After checking with differ­ent insurance carriers and the Washington State Patrol, I was informed that even street-legal motorcycles do not need to carry liability in­surance. Dayton's proposed ordinance does not allow drivers under the age of 16 to operate an ORV on its city streets. Another issue brought up was the city's his­torical features and the plan to make the town more at­tractive to visitors who spend their money here, helping Dayton's economy. Also said was "allowing ORVs on the city streets would be counter to that economic goal." By allowing ORV owners the opportunity to stay in Dayton and leave from within the city limits would help the economic stability of Dayton by providing a close proxim­ity to shopping, restaurants and hotels. It was also commented on that OSHA recommends that ATVs not be driven on concrete or pavement. When I contacted OSHA about this statement, I was told that those recommendations were for ATVs used in the work place. I also contacted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and asked what studies had been done with regards to ATV safety on paved roads. Their response was they had done a study about highway speeds of 50 to 70 mph. When ask about speeds under 35 mph, their response was that there had been no studies done by the NHTSA on the safety of ATVs at those speeds. Dur­ing the second public hear­ing, it was brought up that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said rid­ing on pavement was hazard­ous. When I contacted both Yamaha U.S.A. and Polaris Industries legal departments I was informed that those rules were brought about in 1988 in an agreement with the U.S. government as part of a safety campaign for riders under the age of 16, and there had been no studies done to substantiate the claims that riding on pavement was haz­ardous.

Traffic was also a con­cern, with statement made that "people would come far and wide with every piece of wheeled junk to live it up on Dayton's city streets." The visitors who will be coming to Dayton along with local residents will be using our streets to access Mustard Hollow Road. They will not be wanting to run their ORVs up and down a city street. They are here to enjoy their ORVs outside of town. But they will be staying in our ho­tels, eating at our restaurants, buying gas for their ORVs and buying groceries for their trips to the mountains. The issue of noise has also been talked about. Within the ordinance, noise standards have been established. The vast majority of ORVs that will be coming to Dayton will not have exhaust noise any louder than vehicles already traveling our streets now. In the past month I have been in contact with the cities of Wallace, Kellogg, Pine­hurst,

and Orofino, Idaho. I contacted the respective chambers of commerce and police departments. These towns have ORV laws that are far more liberal than the ordinance being proposed in Dayton. The report from all of these people was that there is very little trouble having ORVs traveling on their city streets.

I was given the name of Chuck Wardell of the Silver Valley Economic Develop­ment Corporation. I con­tacted him and ask about the economic impact of having the ORVs in the Silver Val­ley

and his response was that it had been a very good enhancement to the area and has brought a large increase of visitors along with many new businesses to accom­modate the increased visitor traffic. While researching for this column I was able to compile these demographics on visitors to ORV parks and destination areas: 50 percent are families with one or more children, 35 percent are couples over the age of 45, 10 percent are single males under the age of 25, and 5 percent are single females.

Having lived in Day­ton most of my life I have watched over the years all of the excitement that has occurred in the name of change. The majority of the change has turned out to be good - Bluewood being a good example. The resort has been an economic friend to the town of Dayton.

Dayton has endured many cycles in just my lifetime. Growing up, there were many family farms that em­ployed even more people to help work the land. But with the modernization of farm­ing, it has become a large business with little labor demands. Since the closing of the sweet pea harvest and the asparagus pack going to South America, the reduction of hunting seasons in our mountains, Dayton Days on its last leg and the uncertain future of Bluewood, reasons to travel here are growing fewer and fewer every year. Also, couples are finding it harder to stay here and raise their families. We have had some glimmers of jobs with the windmills, but we still need to do more. This ordi­nance would allow people to come visit Dayton as they do in Wallace, Kellogg, Pinehurst, and Orofino. With those visits will come new businesses, jobs, tax revenue, and the possibility that some of these visitors will enjoy our community so much that they would relocate here. I believe that the concerns that have been raised lack the validity to stop this ordinance from being adopted. Change needs to happen or you get left behind. We are getting left behind, and this ordi­nance gives us a chance at revitalizing our community.