Winneshiek County's UTV ordinance wins its first approval

A new ordinance which would allow UTVs to be driven on many Winneshiek County roads has passed its first reading.

UTV organizer Jeremy Bjerke thanked the Winneshiek County Board Tuesday for working with his group to get an ordinance written.  He added that he's had several people tell him they will buy UTVs if the new ordinance passes.

The ordinance would allow UTVs to be driven on county roads with less than 200 vehicles per day.  There was some discussion Tuesday of that limit, which will remove 17 roads from the list of UTV-permitted roads.  County resident Mason Tieskotter said many of the restricted roads are in the most popular tourism areas of the county, adding, "Maybe we're overthinking this," and urging the county board to approve UTVs on all county roads.

But supervisors supported the list of restricted roads, then passed the first reading of the ordinance.  If the ordinance is read two more times and approved, it will go into effect.