The Lander County Commission received an update on the subject of possible county approval for off-highway vehicles (OHV) to travel on county roads. The county discussed sending a letter to the state to request approval of a county-passed ordinance.
Elko’s county commissioners recently passed an ordinance to allow OHV’s on the county’s roads. However, despite the vote by Elko county approving the item, the state will have to give approval, before the ordinance can take effect.
Lander County Commissioners received an update from Lander County Executive Director Keith Westengard and District Attorney Ted Herrea. The commission wanted to defer the item, due to the agenda item reading as an action item.
“The state said the NRS’s (Nevada Revised Statue) have changed and that there was nothing the NDOT (Nevada Department of Transportation) could do because of the changes,” Westengard explained, regarding a phone call made to the state.
“There is a conflict in the statutes,” Herrera told the commission, “Elko did not get it approved by the state, only at the county level. That is what we are looking to do. Our idea is to send a letter to the state regardless of the contradiction in the statute. I believe that we will send the letter to the state then we will of OHV’s on county roads. I has become commonplace in rural Nevada for these types of vehicles to be used regularly, both for their convenience and for recreational use in the mountains and valleys. Often drivers have to cross a county road. If caught, they could be subject to a fine.
The commissioners are looking into allowing OHV’s to cross the county roads but any move on their part will require the state approval. The agenda item is expected to return to the board for the commissioner’s action. If commissioners pass a Lander County ordinance, that will then go to the state for final approval.
