I am disappointed, not surprised, but disappointed in the local UTV community. Instead of working with the city and county, they have chosen to align themselves with an outside UTV advocacy group with money to get what they want. Screw the people who live here. It’s so weird because I think most of the UTV businesses in town are locally owned. Do they not hear the noise? Do they not care about their neighbors and their quality of life at all? Do they not care about the beautiful area that we live in? Do they really want constant noise instead of being able to enjoy the quiet vastness of this place?
When I moved here in the early ’90s the jeepers were the “bad guys.” They were going off-road, destroying the desert and creating havoc. The local group Red Rock 4-Wheelers got into action and created a polite, helpful group of jeepers who educate other jeepers who come here. They even do clean-ups in the desert. So for 20 some years, the motorheads and mountain bikers and the hikers were mostly harmonious.
About 10 years ago, UTVs started invading with loud vehicles in and out of town. They got louder, more obnoxious and much more destructive than the jeepers ever were. We all know this. Almost every week there have been letters to the editor about the problems with noise and destruction from UTVs. However, instead of trying to rein in this group, and maybe even advocate for electric UTVs, the UTV businesses have chosen to fight! This lawsuit will cost all taxpayers money!! Do they not care at all about their own community?
From what I’ve seen the city & county have tried very hard to make this situation work. Many places in Colorado have banned UTVs in their towns entirely. However, we are not in Colorado I’m sorry to say. The Utah state legislators have mostly hamstrung our local government’s ability to get a grip on this. It does seem that the lower speed limits have encouraged more trailering to the trailheads, but it doesn’t stop the destruction in the backcountry. The noise and destruction seem to be everywhere. It’s harder and harder to find places where you can’t hear them.
I would love to see the local UTV businesses and owners really think about how they could be good citizens and work with the community instead of fighting and making it worse. Why fight noise level requirements? Why not replace your fleet with electric UTVs? If they can make electric semi-trucks I’m sure they can make strong enough electric UTVs to go where they want to go.
Judy Powers
Moab
