If your city and/or county does not have a WATV ordinance  which allows you to drive your ATV or SxS on the streets, here is one approach to making it happen:

Basically you need to propose the idea to the city or county council members where you want to ride, try and find at least one of them who likes the idea to help you sell it.

Start by emailing the council/mayor with your interest (their email addresses are published on their website) and that you’d like to be the point of contact. Then put the word out on social media and get as many people as you can to also email them and express their interest in adopting the ordinance.

Once they’ve agreed to discuss it, talk to the city engineer and administrator about drafting up an ordinance (you can copy from another county and another city).

Then go to meetings, push the idea to keep it on the agenda, get other people to go to the meetings with you.  Talk to people on social media who have done it in their area to get an idea what questions and concerns the council will have, and be ready at the meetings with those answers and examples from other counties and cities that have adopted ordinances. Try to keep momentum going until they either vote it down, or vote it into place.

Here is a list of counties and cities that have opted in, with links to the ordinances they drew up.
The document below was presented on a projector screen at a city council meeting to help the council understand visually what was being proposed. The word “DISCUSS” was later changed to ADOPT in a later presentation when it was getting close to the vote.
WATV proposal to council members

Similar Posts

  • The Slab ORV Area

    The Slab is about 600 acres or so, depending on who you talk to. The area consists of rolling hills made up of sandy dirt, covered with scrub brush. There are some places to get up some speed. There are some short but steep hill climbs. There are some sweet jumps. There are some whoops….

  • Elbe Hills ORV

    Elbe Hills ORV Area is well known to be very muddy, with deep ruts created by the heavy jeeps and trucks that frequent the area. This can be very challenging for UTVs and ATVs, but it is still passable. Most of the trails are not far off of the main service roads through the area,…

  • Naches Pass Trail

    In the mid-1800s, a road was made from Walla Walla to Fort Steilacoom through Naches Pass. But it was too difficult for early settlers. It has stayed available for motorized recreation, but has fairly restrictive seasons due to the elevation, and the effects of motorized vehicles on trails (especially when the snow melts). Lower Naches…

  • Republic Area

    This area contains a network of forest service roads in the Colville NF which are legal for all vehicles, and a few actual trails. The N and SW regions can be accessed by driving your ORV right out of Republic. However, the SE region, which has the best scenery, requires that you trailer your ORV…

Leave a Reply