{"id":31534,"date":"2023-09-23T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/silverton-to-decide-on-ohvs-in-town-again\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:42:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:42:47","slug":"silverton-to-decide-on-ohvs-in-town-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/silverton-to-decide-on-ohvs-in-town-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Silverton to decide on OHVs in town \u2013 again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Silverton
Silverton will get more affordable housing in 2023. \u201cThese units will be deed and income restricted and provide workforce housing for our community,\u201d said Silverton Town Manager Gloria Kaasch-Buerger. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Silverton voters might be experiencing a moment of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu. Almost exactly two years ago, the town\u2019s residents voted to give off-highway vehicles the boot from streets inside town limits. Now, they are being asked to take up the issue again.<\/p>\n

The question is a contentious one that has repeatedly divided the town.<\/p>\n

On one side, many business owners contend that allowing OHVs to traverse Silverton\u2019s roads boosts the town\u2019s summertime tourism economy.<\/p>\n

But other locals argue that the dust and noise created by the vehicles interferes with the quiet quality of life that drew many of the town\u2019s residents there in the first place.<\/p>\n

OHVs were allowed in Silverton until October 2021, when residents voted on two ballot questions addressing the matter.<\/p>\n

The two questions were worded differently, such that an affirmative vote on one would ban the vehicles from the streets, while an affirmative vote on the other would allow them to stay.<\/p>\n

On both questions, the voters firmly handed down a verdict to expel OHVs from the town\u2019s streets.<\/p>\n

A November 2022 article in The Durango Telegraph<\/em><\/a> states that the town\u2019s sales tax revenue does not paint a clear picture of how the vote may have impacted businesses, but some business owners offer anecdotal evidence.<\/p>\n

Paul Zimmerman, who owns Smedleys Suites and The Pickle Barrel with his wife, said he has noticed a precipitous decline in revenue at the hotel and restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy guess is, adjusted for inflation, we\u2019re probably down about 30%,\u201d Zimmerman said.<\/p>\n

He clarified that the decline could not solely be attributed to the ban on OHVs in town, but also suggested that it played a significant role. The town needs to avoid \u201cthrowing the baby out with the bath water,\u201d Zimmerman said.<\/p>\n

Other residents and visitors alike have taken to the comments sections of social media posts to verbally joust over the issue, highlighting just how divisive the question continues to be.<\/p>\n

The current proposal before voters would allow OHVs to operate on Greene Street, Silverton\u2019s main thruway, from 7th Street to the town\u2019s northern limits on County Road 2. They would also be allowed on the sections of Blair St. beginning at 10th Street going north, as well as the numbered cross streets between Greene and Blair in that section.<\/p>\n

In addition to a handful of other side streets, the proposed code would allow the vehicles on the segments of CR 2 and CR 110a that connect to one another within town limits.<\/p>\n

Town officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.<\/p>\n

A \u201cyes\u201d vote on the question would allow OHVs onto the routes listed, while a \u201cno\u201d vote would maintain the current restrictions.<\/p>\n

To be eligible to vote, residents must be of legal voting age and have resided in the town for at least 30 days preceding the election. Ballots were mailed to voters earlier this month, and can be dropped off or replaced at the Silverton Town Hall.<\/p>\n

All ballots must be returned no later than 7 p.m. on Oct. 3.<\/p>\n

rschafir@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oct. 3 vote will ask residents to decide of OHVs should be let back onto the town\u2019s streets<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,308,1309,327],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-31534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-local-elections","tag-san-juan-mountains","tag-silverton"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81476,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31534\/revisions\/81476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31534"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=31534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}