The Haines Borough Assembly will look into putting teeth into a state directive against use of motorized vehicles on Chilkat River beaches.

Confusion among area residents, borough staff and law enforcement officials over the legality of riding ATVs on the beaches led Mayor Stephanie Scott to investigate the issue. Scott concluded that while commercial motorized use is prohibited, personal use of ATVs is not.

“There’s no rule against it and everybody kind of thought there was,” Scott said.

  The Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Northern Southeast Area Plan for the land reads: “A special use designation affects this parcel. The SUD limits the generally allowed use related to commercial recreation by stipulating a maximum number of clients per day for each commercial use and it precludes motorized vehicles. The installation of signs and natural looking barriers to stop motorized use is considered appropriate.”

 Haines area forester Roy Josephson said if DNR were following the plan, ATV use would be banned on the beach. “If we’re managing the land according to the plan, we should not allow it. DNR doesn’t want four-wheelers out there, according to our plan,” Josephson said in an interview.

A City of Haines recreation plan in 2001 also recommended motorized uses be prohibited there.

However, troopers and police say they have no legal authority to enforce such a rule. So when residents call to complain about ATVs riding recklessly up and down the beach or doing donuts in the tide pools, their hands are essentially tied.

Beachfront resident Heather Lende spoke at Tuesday’s assembly meeting, saying neighborhood residents were fine with the informal policy prohibiting motorized use until they saw a recent police report that a complainant was told that riding a four-wheeler on the beach was not illegal.

Lende said she was concerned what kind of message this would send to other users, who might read the same blotter item and conclude it is fine to ride ATVs along the beach.

“People and dogs walk and picnic and live here, and it’s noisy (and) dangerous to have machines racing through at 40 mph night and day. And since the beach is not a thru-way to anywhere, and a road borders all of it, and it is narrow, especially at high tide – and relatively short (about 2 miles) – there’s no need for off-road vehicles here,” Lende wrote in a letter to borough officials and law enforcement officers.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the assembly voted 4-2 to send the matter to the planning commission. The commission will meet Sept. 12 to discuss whether the borough should codify a law prohibiting ATV use on the beach, allowing officers to write tickets.

Assembly members Dave Berry and Jerry Lapp opposed the motion to refer the discussion to the commission. Berry stated he thought such a law would set a dangerous precedent for future land use conflicts.

“This is step one,” Berry said. “The next step is Chilkat Lake. I’m just getting concerned that all we’re talking about is prohibiting this, prohibiting that, prohibiting this, and pretty soon we’re going to prohibit everything.”

Lapp also said he would rather see the discussion approached in a different way than codifying a law against motorized use. “You can’t find anywhere close to town almost to ride an ATV right now, so you’re going to take one more piece of it out,” he said.

Responsible ATV users of the beach shouldn’t be penalized for the few reckless drivers who cause problems, he added.