what do you think - Snowmobile Forum: Your #1 Snowmobile Forum

littledawg · 09-23-2007, 12:55 PM

heres the scoop. the town i live in has just outlaw sleds in the villiage.. so my question is 1 can they do this. 2 do they half to allow us access to fuel and food. 3. how can we get this so called law changed. i tried to talk to the mayor and he told mehe could not discuss this issue we me!!! and sayed to go to a meeting and bring it up their. so has anyone in here had this before and what can be done. where i live is a small town. but it is a resort town with a small lake (indian lake ohio). in the summer its boats winter its sleds.and if theres nothing we can do i guess i take my chances and ride....

**RJ Gleason** · 09-24-2007, 03:50 PM

Get a nearby club involved too. Talk to the business owners, point out how much money they face losing due to this ordinance.

Formula_Canuk · 09-24-2007, 06:23 PM

The town closest to me did the same thing. Really bad move on there part. The buisness's that were already struggling are really feeling it. Thw town is right on a river too, so it would have been easy to just outlaw them on certain busy streets etc but they just went all out. Worst yet is they no longer allowed the ofsc to maintain the trails even close to the town, bunch of bs

What do we do? Take ALL our buisness elsewhere ALL year long when ever possible.

**smallengineguy** · 09-24-2007, 08:08 PM

Definitely get a club or other riders to come to a town meeting and voice their opinion!

littledawg · 09-24-2007, 08:52 PM

hey thanks guys.. are next meeting is the first wed in oct. and i will get the lake rats together and find some stuff out..

**RJ Gleason** · 09-25-2007, 12:51 PM

The village near me has an ordinance on the books that proscribes any snowmobiles from the village limits. I got the village board to lift this and rewrite the code to allow access to a trail that runs right through the middle of the village now. even with the low snow that we have had for the past couple of years, the businesses like it. The trail goes right through one of the gas stations too.

This is the power of having a club behind you.

SnowBunny550 · 09-25-2007, 03:09 PM

Unless otherwise stated by either county or state laws, the village is legally in the "okay" to do this (to answer your first question). HOWEVER, as has been either said or alluded to, you can get this changed. I would suggest that in addition to a local snowmobile club, get some of the local business owners behind you. If you give them enough notice (as in, call & ask them NOW), they should be able to pull together rough estimates of the amount of business generated due to snowmobile travel through the village, which is directly proportional to how much they stand to LOSE if you guys can't ride through.

When you show people concretely how something will hit them in the pocketbook, they're more likely to stand up & take notice...and work to change it if it's a negative effect.

Good luck!

PolarisINDY500 · 09-25-2007, 04:19 PM

^ what she said...

in addition, id propose a trail or designated trail that snowmobilers would have to ride on to get through your village. this way, instead of everyone riding wherever, you can channel the riders to one location to meet the village half way.

50% of something is better than 100% of nothing. get any local clubs or even the Ohio Snowmobile Assocation (if that even exists) behind you. the more people you have the more credible your argument against the new ordinance.

littledawg · 09-27-2007, 04:48 PM

thanks to all.

SnowRida · 09-28-2007, 04:25 AM

[quote=PolarisINDY500

50% of something is better than 100% of nothing. [/QUOTE]

They should consider a medium. It would be good for the econony within the village.Get a club together and propose going at least half way. It's a good start.

kccats · 09-28-2007, 08:53 AM

Good luck and keep us posted!

littledawg · 10-02-2007, 06:39 PM

good news people..we had are meeting, and at are meetings there is always about 7 people that show up. but last night there was 60 of us. we talked we yelled and some got dismissed... but we came to agreement sleds will be allowed in the village but we half to stay on the routs they mark.and we are now trying to get a club started so we can keep what we got

so i must thank all of you for your support.and thank all the lake rat sled heads that showed up.this must show us all that we have rights and we have laws and if we all work together we can get things right..

ps hey muncher we missed ya...???

ptrapper65 · 10-02-2007, 07:11 PM

^^^ See, in numbers they listen. Or... the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Congrats, but STAY ON THE ROUTS!!!

Taz · 10-02-2007, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by littledawg

i tried to talk to the mayor and he told mehe could not discuss this issue we me!!!

Littledawg
I am glade things worked out for you. I think it’s time for this person(mayor)to go. I’ll bet he will be able to discuss issues with you when the next election comes up!!

**RJ Gleason** · 10-03-2007, 02:42 PM

Now, it will be up to the users to police themselves and others to ensure that the marked routes are kept open for all.

PolarisINDY500 · 10-03-2007, 02:58 PM

looks like the battle was won, but the war is far from over. as others have stated, you have a lot of work ahead by having the sledders (townies, and visitors) respect the new rules and regulations.

good work tho by having them change their minds. keep us posted

SnowBunny550 · 10-03-2007, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by littledawg

good news people..we had are meeting, and at are meetings there is always about 7 people that show up. but last night there was 60 of us. we talked we yelled and some got dismissed... but we came to agreement sleds will be allowed in the village but we half to stay on the routs they mark.and we are now trying to get a club started so we can keep what we got

so i must thank all of you for your support.and thank all the lake rat sled heads that showed up.this must show us all that we have rights and we have laws and if we all work together we can get things right..

ps hey muncher we missed ya...???

The mayor may have been advised to not speak about the proposed ordinance for various reasons, or he may just be a d-bag.

Now, to get all nerdy on you guys:
This smacks of one of my all-time favorite legal quotes (see? Nerdy with a capital "N"): "...if a man neglects to enforce his rights, he cannot complain if, after a while, the law follows his example." (Oliver Wendell Holmes)

You make enough noise, you WILL be heard - keep up the great work!

Hopefully residents and visitors alike will appreciate the effort you've made to enable them to continue to ride through the town, and will respect trail rules.

littledawg · 10-05-2007, 06:03 PM

thanks.. all.. we are trying to get together to get the club started.its goning to be a long process.but we are trying.. the next big thing (fund raising) TO POST SIGNS. and pass out news letters..i think we are headed in the right direction..

BRPforlife · 10-05-2007, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Formula_Canuk

The town closest to me did the same thing. Really bad move on there part. The buisness's that were already struggling are really feeling it. Thw town is right on a river too, so it would have been easy to just outlaw them on certain busy streets etc but they just went all out. Worst yet is they no longer allowed the ofsc to maintain the trails even close to the town, bunch of bs

What do we do? Take ALL our buisness elsewhere ALL year long when ever possible.

Where's this?

SnowBunny550 · 10-07-2007, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by littledawg

thanks.. all.. we are trying to get together to get the club started.its goning to be a long process.but we are trying.. the next big thing (fund raising) TO POST SIGNS. and pass out news letters..i think we are headed in the right direction..

It certainly sounds like you're headed in the right direction!