Commentary: At the signing of the bill to allow UTVs on New Mexico public roads, it was made clear by Governor Lujan-Grisham and bill sponsors that its purpose was solely to enable farmers and ranchers easier access to their fields and not to provide for recreational usage.
There is now a plan to present an ordinance to Las Cruces City Council to lift the ban on UTVs on our streets.
Please don’t do this; this was not the intent of the new bill. Just because Dona Ana County allows them does not mean that they should be allowed within city limits where the population density is greater and the streets are busier. Allowing UTVs on city streets will present hazards to drivers of other vehicles as well as pedestrians. We’d like to keep our residential areas quiet, and not be subject to the additional noise created by these UTVs.
The argument that the vehicle or trailer may be subject to vandalism doesn’t wash: those who leave their cars to hike Baylor or Soledad Canyons or Tortugas Mountain or their vehicles to enjoy boating at Elephant Butte Reservoir or on the Rio Grande are subject to the same potential vandalism; we don’t hear that those vehicles suffer vandalism.
We urge City Council representatives not to pass any legislation that would allow UTVs to operate on the public streets of Las Cruces.
Thank you for your consideration.