City council is mulling a set of recommendations regarding the region's antiquated snowmobiling bylaw.

But some people in the community are unimpressed with the proposals and hoping council chooses to take any changes to the legislation in a different direction.

"It appears as though the recommendations are basically a knee-jerk reaction to complaints,” Mark Daniels, president of the Klondike Snow Association, told the Star today. "They don't take in things like lifestyle, like economic impact.”

The current snowmobile bylaw was originally drafted and passed in 1972. Council received recommendations for updating the bylaw this week.

T

he suggestions include limiting their use in residential and environmentally sensitive areas, and requiring operators to take a safety course.

Daniels said he has only taken a "preliminary” look at the recommendations, but so far, he finds them "unfair,” and does not believe they will solve the issues prompting the complaints.

"They punish the law-abiding, and they're not going to solve the issue of someone screaming through the neighbourhood at two o'clock in the morning on a sled with a racing pipe on it,” he said. "Those people aren't going to follow these rules anyways, and those are the people citizens are complaining about.”

Under the proposed recommendations, snowmobile operators would not only need to be at least 16 years old and have a valid driver's licence, but take a safety course as well.

"That, to me, is onerous,” Daniels said. "It's unfair.”

Another recommendation is that snowmobiles not be allowed on residential roads. Daniels called the recommendation "absolutely unreasonable”, adding that the "out and away” trail system snowmobilers and administration have been working to construct would not be plausible if snowmobiles are not allowed on roads.

"For the proposed system to work, you would need a ton of money and infrastructure; you'd need staging areas,” he said.

And, for users like Daniels, who lives very close to a trailhead, the recommendation would be counter-intuitive to the environmental scope of some of the other proposals.

"To follow the regulations as proposed, instead of starting up my snowmobile in the driveway, warming it up and driving it two houses down to the trailer head, I would have to warm up my truck, drive across Porter Creek, get my trailer, bring it home, load it up, go down two houses, ride my snowmobile and then reverse the whole process.”

Daniels is also concerned with the fine system the recommendations propose.

"If you go behind your house and cause environmental damage with your truck, and I went in there and did the exact same damage with my snowmobile, I'm subject to a higher fine under these recommendations,” he said.

"That's just not right …. What they've done is they've created an unlevel playing field.”

If the recommendations are approved by council, they would "absolutely” have negative effects on the region's economy, Daniels said.

With four snowmobile dealerships in the region, plus gasoline and equipment sales, he said, snowmobiling is a multimillion-dollar-a-year industry here.

Instead of more rules, Daniels would like to see more education.

"We're advocates of education, we're not advocates of legislation,” he said. "So obviously, more legislation is not what we're looking for.”

The recommendations will not necessarily form new legislation.

City council is currently reviewing the proposals and will report back to administration regarding which recommendations it would like to pursue.

If necessary, a new bylaw will come forward under the city's bylaw process, which would include public consultation.

Daniels is hoping council will consider the interests of everyone in the community when reviewing the proposals.

"I'm hoping when council sees these recommendations they take a balanced approach and consider all aspects, not just some people who are complaining about some others riding snowmobiles.”

See editorial