Waseca City Council discusses specialized vehicle rules

The state leaves it to the local governments to decide whether or not ATVs, UTVS and golf carts will be allowed on certain streets in Minnesota.

The city of Waseca is in the process of creating an ordinance that will make specialized vehicles allowable to drive within the city limits. The council discussed the topic at a work session meeting April 16.

Ordinance

The city set up a work session meeting for April 16 after having an ordinance brought to the council by City Manager Carl Sonnenberg earlier in the year. The council thought that they should have a work session before voting on the ordinance to discuss the ordinance in detail and have it rewritten to address the concerns from the council and public.

Sonnenberg once again brought Ordinance 1112 to the City Council for them to look it over. City staff made changes to the ordinance reflecting the concerns about it.

It’s been illegal to ride the specialized vehicles in Waseca up to this point, but rules have not been enforced. Law enforcement will begin ticketing now, if the ordinance legalizing the practice isn’t passed.

The city of Waseca’s ordinance would allow people to get a permit from the city to ride the vehicles in the city for $5 over three years. The permit will be a sticker for people to put on their vehicle.

Sonnenberg went through the revised ordinance with the council. City Attorney Chris Kennedy was also there, helping city staff draft the ordinance.

The council agreed that class 1 ATVs should be allowed to drive on city roads. A Class 1 ATV’s width is 50 inches or less, which is smaller than a class 2 ATV. The width of a class 2 ATV is greater than 50 inches but no larger than 65 inches.

Three wheelers are not included in the ordinance, as riding them on streets has been outlawed by the state for many years. The city does not have the authority to make them legal.

One of the things that will be included in the ordinance is designated roadways. Golf carts are not allowed on Elm Avenue, except for residents there and for those who wish to to cross Elm at the nearest cross street.

If you want to visit somebody that lives on Elm, you would have to find the nearest cross street and go to their property. And if you live on Elm, you would have to find the nearest cross street, so you won’t be on the street for too long.

This is due to some golf carts not being able to go as fast as other specialized vehicles, potentially backing up traffic on the street.

Part of the question ends up on law enforcement when it comes to backing up traffic. The operation of specialized vehicles shall not be done in a manner that backs up traffic. If riders of specialized vehicles impede the flow of traffic, they could be issued a citation. But impeding traffic is a state statute violation with or without a new ordinance.

“That’s where public safety comes in, no matter what you do in your ordinance, the impeding traffic is actually a state statute violation,” Kennedy said. “So it’s just making sure that you’re not putting citizens in a situation where they think that they are permitted to do something that will cause some problems for other reasons.”

Kennedy also stated that, even if the city told the Waseca Police Department that they are not going to enforce impeding traffic in the ordinance, the city would have to get cooperation from them. Also, the city does not have control over the highway patrol or the Waseca County Sheriff’s Office issuing citations for the same issue.

Mayor Randy Zimmerman noted that the impeding traffic item in the ordinance is crucial, because it’s the only negative feedback he has heard about the ordinance.

The ordinance also states that all bike and walking trails in the city are off limits for specialized vehicles, even if some of the city’s trails are off city limits. That means all of the Clear Lake Trail is off limits.

For the permits to ride specialized vehicles in the city, they must be obtained from the Police Department during their normal business hours. Sonnenberg pointed out that the county is also working on an ordinance for the riding of specialized vehicles.

“We’ve met with the county, and the county attorney is considering a recommendation that their ordinance would mirror ours, so there’d be some consistency between the two jurisdictions since we share roads,” said Sonnenberg.

The council recommended city staff goes through the ordinance and makes changes based on its concerns with it, which included added class 1 ATVs to the ordinance. There were still some concerns about the issue, but they were mostly about the state’s handling of specialized vehicles.

Council’s thoughts

“I want to compliment staff on doing all this, because it’s much better than the last time,” council member Jeremy Conrath said. “I’m actually going to criticize the state, because the state is putting us in a hard spot, because they have not done their due diligence on UTVs. They’re making us come up with all this.”

The main concern from the council regards riders from out of town knowing if they have to have a permit or not from the city. Conrath stated that, if every single city and county does this in the state, people will need many stickers on their vehicles. The city does not have much choice with what the state has done.

Sonnenberg stated that, because Waseca County is working on an ordinance as well, if someone has a permit through the county, they will not need one from the city, as it appears the city and county are on board with doing the same things in their ordinances.

When it comes to reciprocity, with the city accepting other cities’ permits for the specialized vehicles, Sonnenberg said his staff could look into that, but he doesn’t know if that could be done in a couple weeks.

“Staff has worked hard to plain language the ordinance and to take into consideration previous council conversations,” Sonnenberg said. “Unless there are other comments or questions, what you’ve agreed to tonight will be presented through a resolution at the May 7 meeting to set the public hearing at the May 21 meeting.”

Conrath mentioned that he would like to see the Police Department not be “hardcore” on the subject right away as the ordinance comes into effect and instead educate people who are coming from out of town.

Sonnenberg responded that he had conversations with Waseca Chief of Police Penny Vought and Captain Kris Markeson. The conversations regarded personal responsibility and that it’s on the riders to know what’s going on with the town they’re visiting.

But with special events like poker runs and UTV rides, Sonnenberg stated that common sense would come into play in those situations.

“I’m not seeing the Waseca Police Department as going out and having so much free time on their hands that they’re going to be stopping every ATV, UTV, and golf cart that’s out there,” Sonnenberg said.

Sonnenberg said that the Police Department is “very fair and congenial” and do an “awesome job.” The city will provide clarity for law enforcement once the ordinance gets adopted.

“Also keep in mind that, as time passes and everybody gains more experience, we can edit the ordinance,” said Sonnenberg. “It’s not such an onerous process.”