Noise made on Jordan Valley ORV ordinance
BY JORDAN TRAVIS
ALBA — County roads in part of the Jordan River Valley could be open to off-road vehicles if Chestonia Township officials approve an ordinance they’re considering. Township trustees will meet Monday at 7 p.m. to discuss an ORV ordinance, according to meeting documents and township Clerk Nancy Shepard. The meeting is set for the township library in Alba at Alba Road and Second Street, but likely will be moved to a building next door to make room for more people, Shepard said.
The Jordan River flows alongside Pinney Bridge Road in Antrim County’s Chestonia Township.
Special to the Record-Eagle/Joanie Moore
Messages for Chestonia Township Supervisor Roy Wicht were left Thursday, and Shepard didn’t respond to a follow-up request to talk about the ordinance.
Melissa Zelenak, Antrim Conservation District executive director, said she’s expecting a crowd. She attended a packed Aug. 22 public hearing, where audience members voiced numerous concerns, from safety to environmental damage to conflicts with other users in the sprawling wooded area.
While the proposal is drawing pushback, including from environmental groups and the state agency that manages much of the land, ORV riders want Chestonia trustees to let them through the valley’s roads, with some touting economic benefits and others claiming that fears of damage are overblown.
Zelenak said she told trustees toward the end of the public hearing that, after hearing so much opposition, including from the Department of Natural Resources, that they should proceed carefully if they do opt to move ahead with the ordinance.
“My question was, why are we even doing it, when it seems to me when the DNR says, ‘You know that’s really not a great idea, you guys,’ that to me would be the indicator to just not move forward,” she said.
Shannon Lott, the DNR’s natural resources deputy, wrote to Chestonia Township trustees to object to the ordinance. She pointed out the Jordan River’s Natural River designation from 1972 and the protections that come with it, plus a management plan that emphasizes “quiet recreational use” in the undisturbed tract.
”ORV use on county roads near the Jordan River will likely result in not only natural resource damage but also adversely affect the experience of anglers, hunters, and other recreational users in the Natural Rivers corridor because of increased noise, dust, traffic, resource damage, and potential user conflicts,” Lott wrote.
That was one of 12 potential issues outlined in the letter, including the difficulty of enforcing ORV rules there, the scarcity of legal routes to the Jordan River Valley and increased maintenance needs. Lott suggested encouraging the use of county and forest roads elsewhere in the area, the vast majority of which are open to ORV traffic.
Jordan River runs through 18,000 acres of state forest covering much of the valley, according to Conservation Resource Alliance.
A handful of remote roads wind through the rolling, wooded hills along the valley, as does a hiking trail that includes a bit of the North Country National Scenic Pathway and passes a walk-in DNR campground, maps show. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a fish hatchery on the river, not far from the popular Deadman’s Hill Overlook.
Jordan Valley Trails Council President Karl Davenport grew up a few miles away and said it’s a special place.
”I’ve been to a lot of states and a lot of places, and still, a lot of those places don’t hold a candle to the Jordan Valley,” he said.
Davenport’s in favor of opening the valley roads to ORVs, although he has some reservations. There are always a small percent of rule-breakers that could cause issues. But he believes the change, if done right, could boost the local economy.
Plus, the valley’s seclusion could limit the amount of people who take their ORVs there, he said.
Also in favor is John Niemiec, president of Antrim County Snowmobile Club. He wrote a letter on the club’s behalf in support of Chestonia Township’s ORV ordinance.
”We just support motorized sports in general,” he said. “They bring a positive economic impact to the communities we’re in.”
Vehicles already run on the roads in question, Niemiec said. With that and nonmotorized uses allowed in the valley, he said all people should be able to use the resources throughout the state.
Comparing cars and pickups to ORVs, with their softer suspensions and knobby tire treads, seemed like apples to oranges for Brian Kozminski. He’s a fly fishing guide who makes a dozen trips or so to the valley each year, and started an online petition opposed to the changes Chestonia Township is considering.
Kozminski rejected arguments that ORV riders are being treated unfairly, noting the noise they would bring would impact every other user group.
”Not every river allows motorized boats. Not every river allows every bait,” he said. “Some places need to be kept pristine so they can stay that way and stay treasured for the next generation.”
Dave Galmore, general manager of KAM Powersports in East Jordan, said he suspects that concerns about damage from ORVs comes from people with a negative stereotype of the sport.
”If I was given the opportunity to ride through there, you probably wouldn’t even know I was through there,” he said.
Davenport said it’s possible ORVs could have a bigger impact on the roads than other vehicles, but that’s something the Antrim County Road Commission will have to watch for.
Antrim County opened much of its county roads to ORVs in 2009, a year after state lawmakers gave counties the authority to allow or bar their use on roads under their jurisdiction.
They’re still prohibited on state and federal roads — U.S. 131, M-66 and M-32, for example — in any village in the county and on a handful of roads, according to the ordinance.
That includes all roads in Jordan, Warner, Star and Chestonia townships in an area bordered by M-66, Old State Road and County Road 624, Adams Road, M-32, U.S. 131 and County Road 620.
State law gives townships the authority to adopt their own ordinance allowing ORVs on county roads within that township, Antrim County Administrator Jeremy Scott said. That would supersede any closures in the county ordinance. He told Chestonia Township officials as much in a letter after they asked about changing the county ordinance some time in 2023.
Township trustees had set a Sept. 18 public hearing over its ORV ordinance, meeting documents show. But that date had to be changed to 6 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Star Township Fire Department because proper notice of the public hearing had not been conveyed to all governmental bodies within the required 28 days’ advance notice.
Davenport said township officials are considering whether to open Star Township’s end of Jordan River Road to ORVs.
Dawn Lavanway, an Antrim County commissioner whose district includes Chestonia and Star townships, is also an East Jordan Trailblazers member. The snowmobiling and ORV group worked with Werner Township and the Michigan Department of Transportation to open a short stretch of M-32 to link East Jordan with other trails.
That showed Lavanway all the issues involved in creating trails, and she questioned whether Chestonia Township is taking all of them into account.
Some of the roads in question are closed from Dec. 1 through March 31, and used as a snowmobile trail. She wondered how that trail could coexist with ORV traffic.
Both Lavanway and Jordan Township Supervisor Suzan Falco said they wondered what would happen if ORV riders in Chestonia Township reached the Jordan Township border — Big Marsh Road is closed to the vehicles, and Jordan Township has no plans to change that, Falco said.
Niemiec said that for every negative raised, allowing ORVs on the valley roads would have positive impacts as well — more access for people with disabilities, for example.
But ultimately, it’s up to township trustees to decide based on what their constituents want. It’s what he told Chestonia Township officials in Antrim County Snowmobile Club’s letter.
”They’re representing their township, and if their peers are telling them not to do this, then that’s what they were elected to do, is represent their constituents,” he said.
Melissa Zelenak, Antrim Conservation District executive director
A sign posted at an entrance to the Jordan Valley on Pinney Bridge Road states the rules and regulations to visitors. Chestonia Township on Monday will consider an ordinance that would allow off-road vehicles in the valley on county roads within the township.
