Scott County’s ATV issue is motoring to the state capitol.
State Sen. Ken Yager (R-Harriman) and state Rep. Les Winningham (D-Huntsville) are teaming up to sponsor legislation that would enable Scott County to be designated an adventure tourism destination…with ATVs permitted on public roads within the designated area.
The issue began late last spring, when Scott County Sheriff Anthony Lay announced that his deputies would begin strict enforcement of existing state ATV laws, which prohibit the operation of ATVs on public roadways. The announcement was in response to complaints from some Huntsville area residents about the prolific usage of ATVs on public streets, and it prompted an outcry from the pro-ATV community. Scott County Commission sided with the ATV riders and requested state legislators help to find a solution. For his part, Sheriff Lay said he wouldn’t have a problem with a new law that permitted ATVs on public streets.
In November, Yager and Winningham met with the public at an ATV forum in Huntsville. The meeting was attended primarily by ATV supporters.
Now comes Senate Bill 3651, filed by Yager on Jan. 28, which would direct the Tennessee Dept. of Environment and Conservation to study rural areas of the state to see if they would be suitable for adventure tourism destinations. Adventure tourism, as defined, includes trail-riding (equine and motorized), white-water rafting and kayaking, rock-climbing, hang-gliding, spelunking and related activities.
Once identified as a possibility, locations could be designated adventure tourism areas by a two-thirds majority vote of a county or municipal government. TDEC and other state agencies would then work with those areas to secure funding through grants and other means. And the kicker: Roads, streets and highways inside the adventure tourism area could be designated for use by ATVs and other off-highway vehicles.
Yager’s bill has been assigned to the Senate Environment, Conservation and Tourism Committee, of which Yager is vice-chairman. Winningham filed companion legislation in the House—HB 3904—on Thursday.