Split council opts to allow ATVs on city road

By Patrick Adrian
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CLAREMONT — A divided Claremont City Council voted 5-4 on Wednesday to still allow all-terrain vehicles on the city owned portion of Cat Hole Road, as well as other requested Class V roads, for at least another year.

For two months the city council has cautiously treaded through a recent conflict over the allowance of ATVs on city-owned residential roads like Cat Hole Road and Veterans Hill Road. For years these roads have provided essential ATV access to the Cat Hole Trails, a 55-mile wooded trail system spanning Claremont, Newport and Cornish.

Since 2013, the city has permitted the Sullivan County ATV Club to ride the city-owned portion of Cat Hole Road, along with other Class V and Class VI connected to the trail network.The council usually renews the permission to the Sullivan County ATV Club on an annual basis, though in 2019 the parties switched to a biannual agreement.

But when the club sought to renew the agreement for 2021, at a council meeting on March 26, residents on Cat Hole Road asked the council to deny ATV access on Cat Hole Road, citing excessive noise and dust stemming from high traffic volumes and flagrant speeding by a large percentage of riders.

Cat Hole Road residents Michael and Maggie Saracino, who were the first abutters to voice concerns, say the problems are primarily caused by the riders who “fly by” without any regard or consideration for the residents.

“It’s the noise as much as the dust,” said Michael Saracino. “No one would want this going by their house, trust me.”

“We wait all year long for summer so we can open our windows and our doors,” said Maggie Saracino. “But we can’t because of the dust and the noise.”

The impact of ATVs became more prominent in 2020 due to a surge in trail use credited largely to mandated stay-at-home orders during the pandemic. A combination of higher trail traffic and an increase in inexperienced and out-of-state riders exacerbated the level of nuisances upon abutting neighbors and outnumbered the capacity of trail patrol efforts to catch riders ignoring speed limits or permitted riding times.

Another contributor to the dirt pollution last year was the change in road material by the city. Due to budget constraints, the Claremont Department of Public Works laid a dirt hardpack and to fill holes rather than asphalt. Though the city later placed a layer of ground asphalt, which reportedly lessened the dirt kick-up, the city then added another hardpack layer of dirt.

City Manager Ed Morris confirmed on Wednesday that the section of Cat Hole Road will be paved this cycle though he did not have a scheduled project date.

The Sullivan County ATV Club will contribute $38,000 to help defray the cost of the paving, using grant money received from the New Hampshire Bureau of Trails to assist with trail maintenance.

Sullivan ATV Club President Steven Wilkie, who has spent months working with the involved parties on solutions or alternatives, said the group hopes to curtail the volume of speeding through an increase in trail monitoring and communication efforts. In addition to expanding trail monitoring operations, the club aims to place patrol shacks in targeted locations, positioned so that approaching riders cannot see whether the shack is currently manned. The club also plans to stop and educate riders entering Cat Hole Road about riding courteously through residential areas and increase educational signage.

According to Wilkie, club members conducting trail patrol recently caught 11 visitors from Massachusetts illegally riding ATVs on the closed trail. The trail patrol notified an on-duty officer from New Hampshire Fish and Game, who issued each rider a $240 fine.

“This is just one example of how our trail patrol can work with law enforcement to help curb illegal riders,” Wilke said.

A number of residents, including ATV riders and property abutters, spoke in either support or against of allowing ATVs on Cat Hole Road.

State Rep. Walt Stapleton, a trail abutter on Veterans Hill Road and an ATV enthusiast, said that stronger enforcement of the riding laws should tremendously lessen the nuisances.

“If you have strong enforcement there, and I am talking about writing and handing out tickets, the word is going to get out,” Stapleton said. “And that’s going to cut down the renegades.”

Resident Ian Gates, an ATV rider, suggested the council study the trail ridership this season rather than jump to conclusions about having a volume like 2020 produced.

“You are basing your decision on . . .one year’s worth of data of an increase that no one in our lifetime has ever experienced,” Gates said. “[Last year’s] 300% increase in ridership is unheard of. It’s not normal at any time in our lives. So to base a decision on that limited amount of data would be unfair to the mass majority of riders who are being respectful to property owners.”

The councilors who voted to allow the ATV usage were Councilors Andrew O’Hearne, Jon Stone, Nicholas Koloski, Dale Girard and Michael Demars.

Demars was newly appointed to the council earlier in the meeting to fill the seat vacated by former councilor Erica Sweetser.

Koloski, in support of renewing permission, said that closure will result in losing all the outside resources to enforce the trail laws but not stop the violators.

“If we don’t grant permission, people are still going to be using it,” Koloski said. “I live in a neighborhood that shouldn’t have any ATV traffic yet I still see ATVs traffic … The people who are going to abuse it and circumvent the law don’t care if they don’t have permission.”

Voting against renewing permission was Mayor Charlene Lovett, Asstistant Mayor Allen Damren and Councilors Deborah Matteau and James Contois.

Contois, speaking against permitting ATVs, reiterated his comments made at previous meetings that the council should prioritize the welfare of property owners over recreational vehicle users, particularly those who come from outside the city.

“People are allowed to enjoy their property undisturbed,” Contois said. “By allowing our roads to be open to all of this traffic is not okay for the citizens of Claremont.”

Wilkie said the club is still performing needed trail work and does not have an official opening date for the ATV season but is hopeful to open the first week of June.