SKOWHEGAN — All-terrain vehicles should not be allowed to drive on a paved, rural road.

That’s according to a majority of the Somerset County Board of Commissioners.

In a 2-3 vote, commissioners denied a request Wednesday from the Lake Moxie ATV Riders, based in The Forks area, to permit ATV traffic on a county-maintained section of Lake Moxie Road.

Instead, all appeared to support finding funding to support improvements to an existing trail in the area, the condition of which sparked the club’s request to use the paved road. Officials said the county could use tax increment financing, or TIF, funds or wind power development community benefit funds.

The commissioners are expected to finalize a written decision at their next meeting on Feb. 18. The decision can be appealed to Superior Court.

The decision at Wednesday’s meeting at the Somerset County courthouse in Skowhegan brought an end to months of discussions over the sometimes competing interests of economic development and public safety.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of if we have an accident — it’s a question of when,” said Chairman Robert Sezak of Fairfield, who represents District 1. “That’s my real fear.”

The road is about 5 miles long and runs east-west from U.S. Route 201 to Moxie Pond, starting and ending in The Forks Plantation. The middle 3 miles run through the unorganized territory of Moxie Gore.

Voters in The Forks approved access to the plantation’s portion of the road at a September town meeting. The vote was 14-5 to approve a probationary period for 2026, contingent on the commissioners’ approval of access on the county’s section, according to meeting minutes.

Justin Stimpson, third assessor of The Forks and owner of the Hawk’s Nest Lodge and Restaurant in West Forks, first brought the issue to the county commissioners’ attention. The board then established a process to consider a formal application to grant ATV access.

“This is not a replacement for the trail system that’s there,” said Ben Towle, president of the ATV club, at a Jan. 21 public hearing before the commissioners. “This is primarily focused for the people that live on this road to have access to the trail system that’s currently there that do not have access to, and, to create a shorter route for the neighboring communities — whether that be Airbnb owners, businesses, landowners — to be able to access in-town amenities.”

Stimpson, in his comments at the January hearing, focused on the economic impact of creating a direct connection to businesses in The Forks. The existing ATV trail that funnels traffic into town from several directions is in poor condition and challenging to maintain, so people are often deterred by what can be a lengthy, unenjoyable trip, he said.

“I was pretty struck by the number of people that came into our restaurant (this summer) that said they would love to come to The Forks area more often, but they likely would not because of the condition of the trail and the time it takes to get to ‘The Forks proper’ off of the main trail system,” Stimpson said.

State law gives the authority to municipal officials, county commissioners or the state Department of Transportation to open a public way to ATVs, depending on which level of government has jurisdiction over the road.

“Before designating a public way as an ATV-access route,” the statute reads, “the appropriate governmental unit shall make appropriate determinations that ATV travel on the extreme right of the public way or as directed by the appropriate governmental unit within the public way may be conducted safely and will not interfere with vehicular traffic on the public way.”

Without that permission, the law provides for little access for ATVs on public ways. In one exception, an operator may drive an ATV up to 500 yards on the right side of a road in order to cross a road, bridge, overpass, underpass, sidewalk or culvert, assuming it can be done safely and without interfering with traffic.

District 4 Commissioner John Alsop, of Cornville, rattled off several safety-related reasons he was opposed. Among them, the current law does not require ATV riders to have driver’s licenses or carry any insurance and ATVs do not have the same safety measures as motor vehicles. He also had doubts that the ATV club’s request matched the intent of the statute.

Alsop said he may have voted otherwise if the Lake Moxie Road was wider.

“As a commissioner, I just feel strongly that it’s unsafe and someone’s going to get killed,” Alsop said.

Joining Sezak and Alsop in opposition was District 3 Commissioner Scott Seekins of St. Albans who said he was concerned about the county’s potential liability, increased call volume for the Sheriff’s Office and logging truck traffic that would be unlikely to slow down. 

“For me, it’s less overall risk for us to fix the trail,” Seekins said.

District 2 Commissioner Don Skillings, of Madison, said opening up the road would support tourism in the region and pointed to Greenville, which opened its roads to ATVs, as an example.

While Skillings said he shared the safety concerns, and received mixed feedback during his research, he preferred to take a more hands-off approach at least on a trial basis.

“I lean towards giving them an opportunity to prove us wrong,” Skillings said. 

Skillings and District 5 Commissioner Joel Stetkis of Canaan voted in favor of opening the road to ATVs as requested from dawn to dusk during ATV season, provided the Maine Department of Transportation agrees to changing the speed limit to 35 mph on the road.

In addition to fixing the existing trail as an alternative solution, Stetkis also suggested the club explore building a new trail with a more direct connection into town.

“If the paved road situation doesn’t work out because there’s too much stress on law enforcement or there’s people getting hurt, there is a better option in the future,” Stetkis said.