Burlington residents are working to make UTVs legal on city streets. Here's why.
Daniel Bergquist loads his Honda Talon onto a trailer and drives to a friend's property in Des Moines County, where he unloads the utility task vehicle and traverses county roads to nearby towns like West Burlington, Mediapolis and Fort Madison.
There, he and other UTV users dine at restaurants, fill up at gas stations and check out shops. But they stay off of Burlington's streets, where city code prohibits UTVs, save for on unplowed streets during the snow season.
Bergquist and fellow UTV enthusiasts Jake Huebner and Scott Ransford hope that will soon change.
For the past several months, the three have been working with city and police officials to craft a draft ordinance that, if approved by the City Council, would allow UTVs, golf carts and ATVs to be driven on most city streets.
Huebner will present that draft to the City Council for discussion at 4:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall.
More: Burlington community gathers at the Depot to celebrate Amtrak's $11.5M investment
"We do have an outstanding city ordinance that actually bans them. So the first hurdle is to get that amended or removed," Bergquist told The Hawk Eye. "We are personally pushing for the UTV side, but we're not opposed to whatever the council suggests on the ATV side. We're going to leave that up to the officials to determine what they want."
The draft also pertains to golf carts. Currently, there are only two in the area that are street-legal under Burlington code due to the way they were manufactured.
How Iowa's new ATV/UTV law created uniformity and confusion
Bergquist said he first approached the city about the possibility of amending its ATV/UTV code about two years ago, but that attempt gained little traction.
A bill introduced this past legislative session and signed into law by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in June reignited the group's efforts.
The law, which went into effect July 1, creates uniform regulations for ATVs, UTVs and golf carts across Iowa's 99 counties, overriding existing county ordinances while allowing cities to continue to regulate their use within city limits.
Under the new law, UTVs and ATVs can be driven on county roadways so long as they meet the following criteria:
ATVs and UTVs can travel no faster than 35 mph;
They must have operational headlights, tail and brake lights, a working horn and rearview mirrors;
ATVs and UTVs must be registered with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the application for which is available through the county recorder's office;
ATVs and UTVs must display an up-to-date registration sticker;
They must be operated by a person who is at least 18 years old with a valid driver’s license and carrying valid proof of insurance and registration;
Hand signals should be used when turning;
They may not be driven on highways except for when crossing to an authorized road; and
Their use is not permitted on interstates, roadways that are under construction or closed, or on detours for normal traffic.
"You can travel on a four-wheeler from here to Nebraska if you're on the right roads and not highways," Huebner said.
The law has brought clarity to rural travel, which under many county ordinances, including that of Des Moines County, had been restricted to certain times of the day. But the hodgepodge of city codes that remain can make legally navigating Iowa via ATVs and UTVs confusing.
"The state passed a law affecting counties but not cities, but because of that confusion, city staff and law enforcement have engaged with UTV users and proponents to try to clarify the issue," Burlington City Manager Chad Bird said.
A series of emails and discussions regarding the city's UTV regulations passed between Bird, Huebner, Bergquist, Ransford and Burlington Police Chief Marc Denney as the group sought clarity on what the law would mean for Burlington and what could be done to change city code.
"When the new bill came out, there was some confusion — not just in Burlington, but everywhere — with how it affected the cities, so for me, it started with contacting our police department," Bergquist said.
Burlington city manager, police chief signal support for amended ordinance
Bird asked the police department to meet with staff and review the city ordinance to determine whether the BPD could support a change in the city's UTV ordinance.
Denney said he does not believe the use of the vehicles within city limits would be an issue.
"There's a lot of requirements that the state's already putting on them to make sure that they're going to be safe on the roadway just like any other vehicle would be," Denney said. "We're in favor of it. It's just another way of convenience around town. Is it going to be a huge problem or concern? We don't think so. Usually these things are just like the (Bird) scooters were a big deal when they first came out. Everybody thought they were going to have all kinds of problems and it kind of fizzled out over time."
More: Electric scooters offer new transportation option around Burlington
Side-by-sides like the ones owned by Ransford, Bergquist and Huebner are larger than smart cars and equipped with seat belts and roll bars.
"It's no different than someone who takes the top off their Jeep and wants to go cruise around," Bergquist said. "They're like little Jeeps. It's not something that you're tearing up the town with. You respect them a lot more than that."
Bird also met with other city staff to determine what impact the use of UTVs and ATVs in city limits would have on their respective departments.
"Staff is supportive of making changes and amending our ordinance so it's more clear in definition and use," Bird said. "I'm in favor of amending the ordinance to allow their use, with restrictions."
What uniform regulations for sports and utility vehicles could mean for Iowa's economy, and for Burlington
Each year, a group of Burlington UTV and ATV owners load their vehicles onto trailers and head to states like Wisconsin and Tennessee, where the traditionally off-road vehicles are uniformly legal.
"Wisconsin is a very UTV-friendly state," Huebner said, explaining he typically goes there three or four times a year with each visit lasting about a week.
They'll park the trailer in a public lot and set out on back roads and trail systems, staying overnight in hotels before getting back on the road in the morning.
"I see the economic impact it has," Ransford said.
According to the Economic and Demographic Profile of Wisconsin's ATV Users, a report generated by a 2003 survey conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, in conjunction with the Wisconsin ATV/UTV Association, ATV and UTV users from Wisconsin and surrounding states spent an average of $523 on activities, goods and services such as shopping, entertainment, gas, food, lodging and convenience stores per recreational trip to the state.
WATVA estimates that present-day ATV and UTV use in Wisconsin has an annual economic impact of $1.1 billion.
Huebner, Ransford and Bergquist believe that opening Burlington's streets to the vehicles would boost the city's economy.
"I think it's going to help Burlington's small businesses more than anything," Huebner said. "Right now, nobody comes into Burlington with them because it's not legal. People from close to Burlington, they drive to Mediapolis."
Mediapolis' UTV and ATV ordinance went into effect several years ago and mirrored the ordinance adopted by the county in 2018 after a string of public hearings, a petition with more than 1,000 signatures and plenty of public input.
"We were approached and there were a number of people," Des Moines County supervisor Tom Broeker said. "We had several public hearings. We debated the hours; we debated some of the rules."
The Supervisors on Tuesday voted to do away with the county's carefully crafted ordinance to accommodate the state law.
Lee County adopted an ordinance similar to Des Moines County's in 2019, and Fort Madison followed suit a few months later.
With each new ordinance came more visitors ready to spend money.
"First, the small towns started finally allowing them — Mediapolis, New London, Danville — and then we got used to being able to get into town and get fuel, food," Bergquist said. "Then Fort Madison opened it up, so then we started riding down there for dinner."
But getting to those towns could be difficult.
In previous years, Bergquist would travel along the Skunk River and around the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant just to get to Mediapolis.
But West Burlington's adoption of the state's ATV and UTV law has shortened that route.
How Iowa's ATV/UTV law has played out in West Burlington
On the Fourth of July, a group of five UTVs purred into West Burlington via Gear Avenue to attend the city's annual Independence Day celebration.
They've returned there many times since, stopping for dinner at restaurants like the Broadway and China One.
West Burlington Police Chief Jesse Logan said the presence of ATVs and UTVs in the city has been far from overwhelming. He has seen them used in town to run errands and get to work.
"A gentleman I know very well drives his about every day to work," he said. "I've had officers ride them to work."
Logan is an ATV/UTV enthusiast himself and has taken many trips to Wisconsin with Huebner, Bergquist and Ransford's group.
"We didn't have any codes on the books (relating to ATVs and UTVs)," Logan said. "We just kind of allowed it during the wintertime, allowing people to plow snow an side-by-side and four-wheelers."
He had been working with City Administrator Gregg Mandsager to craft an ordinance modeled after a combination of codes in place in other cities such as Clear Lake that would allow ATVs and UTVs to travel within West Burlington for some time when they learned of House File 2130.
The city waited to see what would happen with the bill before taking any action.
Once it passed, the city decided to scrap Logan's draft ordinance and go with the regulations outlined in the state law. So far, it's gone smoothly.
"We've just had zero issues with them," Logan said. "I'm not saying we'll never have problems with them. But we have problems with every sort of motor vehicle, so we'll just deal with it at that time."
Michaele Niehaus covers business, development, environment and agriculture for The Hawk Eye. She can be reached at mniehaus@thehawkeye.com.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Iowa residents seek to make UTVs, ATVs legal in Burlington city limits
