Crystal Falls tightens ORV rules after residents raise safety concerns

Crystal Falls tightened its off-road vehicle rules after residents told city officials that dirt bikes and ATVs were moving too fast through town and, in one case, a youth was being pulled on a board behind an ORV with no real control over the vehicle.

The City Council approved the amendment to Ordinance 2.21 on June 9 by a 3-1 vote, with Councilman Kaycee Smith casting the lone dissent and Councilor Steven Fabry absent. Police Chief Brian Zelakiewicz said the change was meant to close a loophole in the old wording, which said ORVs were not limited to certain areas but did not clearly spell out the restrictions that were supposed to follow.

The revised ordinance now makes clear that ORVs are prohibited in cemeteries, parks, golf courses, sidewalks and pedestrian trails. It still allows them to travel on designated streets and alleys when riders are using the most direct route to recognized off-road trails, visiting businesses or reaching gas stations.

The city also kept in place the operating rules that govern how ORVs move inside Crystal Falls. Riders must stay within the outermost five feet of the street or alley, travel single file with traffic, stop before crossing an alley or street, yield the right of way and keep speeds at 25 mph or below unless a lower ORV speed limit is posted. The ordinance also incorporates Michigan’s Part 811 ORV law by reference and says the city intends to allow what state law permits and prohibit what it does not.

Mayor Tim Bean said the city was trying to mirror Michigan Department of Natural Resources ORV rules and said the language change was meant to make enforcement easier. He also pointed to North Sixth Street and Fairbanks as a designated ORV route because the Superior Avenue Bridge cannot be used for that purpose.

The push for the amendment built since the May 11 council meeting, when residents raised complaints about dirt bikes, wheelies and speeds they said were reaching 40 to 50 mph on city streets. Smith said the wording still left the status of streets and alleys too muddled.

The ordinance debate came as the city prepared for a personnel change in the police department. Zelakiewicz is set to leave city employment at the end of June after nearly two years, and Officer Tom Mantch will cover local patrols while school is out for summer break.

Council members also scheduled a July 13 public hearing on live-trapping animal rules.