PARIS — Despite the X-tra Mile ATV Club’s withdrawal of a request to use Parsons Road and insistence that they’ll be using a portion shorter than 500 yards, as allowed by state law, it wasn’t clear Monday night whether they would have access to the remaining portion of the road.
According to Selectman Jean Smart, the board’s vote to rescind access supersedes the state law allowing ATV use on public ways for up to 500 yards when the roadway is needed to connect two trailways.
“When we rescinded permission, we voted to rescind any permission to use that road,” Smart said Monday.
Members of the ATV club disagreed. Mark Strearns, spokesman and treasurer for the club, said the club has permission “through the state of Maine.”
Stearns said trail work would begin once the snow has melted and he anticipates a June 1 opening date for the trail.
When Smart repeated that the club couldn’t access the Parsons Road at this point, an audience member said the club could bring legal action.
Because the ATV club dropped its request to use the road, the Board of Selectmen opted not to ask for a legal opinion from the Maine Municipal Association on how to interpret the state’s ATV laws, as had been planned for Monday’s meeting.
Instead, selectmen approved Smart’s motion to task the Policy and Procedure Committee to draft an ordinance on ATV usage on Paris roads. The motion passed 4-1, with Selectman Ted Kurtz opposed.
The Board of Selectmen gave the ATV club permission to use several town roads in June 2010, including Parsons Road. After complaints from Parsons Road residents and several meetings of a committee on the issue, the board voted in January to rescind access to Parsons Road.
The ATV club, which had built trails toward the Parsons Road to access trails built by the Oxford ATV club, asked for a reconsideration of the decision, but withdrew that request last week with the announcement they had found a landowner who would help them avoid part of Parsons Road.
ATV club members haven’t identified the landowner, and say they can’t say where the trail will be until the snow melts and they can look at the terrain.
Editor’s note: A comment made at the Paris Board of Selectmen meeting was mistakedly attributed to Mark Stearns. It was another audience member. It has been corrected.
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