The city has initiated a review of its bylaw governing the use of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) in Whitehorse.

Mayor Bev Buckway announced the official beginning of the review Tuesday at a press conference alongside senior bylaw and parks and recreation staff.

The intent is to somewhat mirror the process used to review the outdated snowmobile bylaw which has been ongoing for almost a year now, the mayor explained.

"We know that most people act responsibly, but of course we have seen some disturbing trends over the last couple of years and we have seen some serious injuries.”

Buckway said public safety is the priority.

Dave Pruden, the manager of the city's bylaw department, said the intent is to have the new bylaw in place by next June.

A task force of representatives from 10 governments, community organizations and along with representation from the private sector will spearhead the initiative, much like the task force created for the review of the snowmobile bylaw, he said.

Pruden said once the task force has completed its work, it will prepare a draft bylaw for review by city council and the public.

The city plans to use education, not enforcement, to bring about compliance with the bylaw, which applies to the off-road use of motorcycles, quads, Argos and other wheeled vehicles, he said.

While Whitehorse does have its own unique set of circumstances, Pruden said, the task force will look at municipal legislation governing ATVs in other jurisdictions.

Doug Hnatiuk of the Parks and Recreation Department noted the city undertook an exercise four years ago to update its plan for the 700 kilometres of identified trails in the city.

Of the 700, he said, 400 are designated as multi-use trails, though there is a still a segment of the Whitehorse population which believes there should be no use of ATVs on city trails.

Hnatiuk said since the trail plan was adopted in 2007, there's been a fairly aggressive effort to implement it, which has prevented a significant amount of "rogue trail development.”

Pruden said it largely remains to be seen what emerges from the work of the task force and what the draft ATV bylaw will look like, and whether it will address issues like the mandatory use of helmets.

Whether the task force will recommend the city do away with its prohibition of ATVs on city streets and roadways is an unknown right now, he said.

Pruden said currently, it's against the law to ride ATVs on city streets.

It is, for instance, currently illegal to use streets or roadways in any subdivision – whether rural or urban – to access the network of trails from a place of residence, he explained.

Pruden pointed out the snowmobile bylaw, on the other hand, does allow for use of city streets to take the most direct route from a residence to the trail network, and city council did recommend that allowance be continued in the new bylaw.

The draft of the new snowmobile bylaw, Pruden pointed out, is currently in the hands of the city's lawyer for review.

He said once the draft is delivered to council, it will be released for review by the public.

And it will still have to go through the three readings of the formal bylaw process which includes a public hearing, Pruden explained.