The City of Whitehorse has released its new draft bylaw regulating snowmobile use in the community.

The new bylaw will replace existing legislation drafted in the early 1970s and amended in 1991. It will be voted on by city council sometime in January 2012.

In the meantime, the draft version is open to public input.

"We are not considering the bylaw complete by any means,” Dave Pruden, the city's bylaw manager, said last Thursday afternoon. "It is complete as far as a draft goes, but we know there could be some tweaking with regard to the information that comes in from the public.”

The new bylaw is similar to the previous legislation with greater focus put on "environment, education and quality of life,” said Pruden.

New driver safety and eligibility standards were a priority in planning the new bylaw.

The proposed legislation would require riders to wear helmets at all times and carry valid liability insurance while riding.

There would also be a required test component, ensuring that local snowmobilers know the rules before they head to the trails.

Riders would have until Jan. 5, 2013 to earn their safety course certificate, obtained by completing a snowmobile safety and trail use examination.

The open-book test would focus on questions relating to the bylaw and trail plan, with a score of 80 per cent or higher necessary to obtain a certificate.

"We want people, when they go out on the trails, to know what the bylaw says,” said Pruden.

"A lot of people don't know now, and by having the test, people will know what that bylaw contains and have some general competency about what the rules are when they are snow machining in Whitehorse.”

Non-Whitehorse residents would have a two-week grace period, where they could operate a snowmobile without a certificate.

Some regulations which had been proposed to council were not included in the draft bylaw.

Last summer, council heard a proposition to ban the use of snowmobiles on city streets.

That recommendation was not adopted. Instead, under the new bylaw, riders would be permitted to drive their snowmobiles in the most direct route to a permitted area.

"Certainly, some people are going to feel that snow machining should not be allowed on city streets, period. Others will believe the rule is too restrictive,” said Pruden.

"The compromise we tried to meet is that you can be on the road, but it has to be the most direct route.”

Trail designation was another key concern for the bylaw planners.

One major change to trail use is in the protection of environmentally sensitive areas, which were not legislated under the previous bylaw.

"When you look at the landscape around Whitehorse, you can tell that there has been vehicular travel in the green spaces, so there is a concern for the environment,” said Pruden.

"Now people will only be able to travel on designated trails in those environmentally sensitive areas.”

The bylaw would come with a map of designated trail areas, which could be accessed by snowmobilers. Most city residents have trails nearby, excluding Riverdale, which the city plans to further develop for snowmobile use soon.

Many parts of the city would be off-limits under the proposed bylaw, including ski areas and restricted roadways.

Snowmobilers would not be allowed to ride in the downtown area, the Millennium Trail, campgrounds or cemeteries.

Restricted roadways include Hamilton Boulevard, Two Mile Hill, Lewes Boulevard and Mountainview Drive.

Some designated ski trails include Chadburn Lake, Mt. McIntyre, Magnussun and the Biathlon ski trails.

The six-page bylaw includes safety provisions for using a snowmobile in the city, including crossing roads and speed limits of 30 km/h for passing pedestrians on public trails and 50 km/hr for driving on city streets.

Failure to abide by the proposed legislation could result in fines, which are also included with the new legislation.

The fines range from $150 for operating a snow machine without a safety course certificate, to several $500 fines from harassing wildlife to the failure to cross roads safely.

Infractions could also result in snowmobiles being impounded by bylaw officers.

The bylaw is open to public input and can be read on the City of Whitehorse website.

"We are strongly encouraging the public to visit our website, take a read of the bylaw, provide us with feedback,” said Pruden.

"If the public comes to us with their feedback, our hope is that we can review the information through the month of December and come forward with the new bylaw in January.”