Cedar Rapids City Council pauses final consideration of UTV ban

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids City Council last week paused final consideration of an ordinance that would ban the operation of utility task vehicles — or UTVs — on city of Cedar Rapids streets.

Under the proposed Cedar Rapids ordinance, all-terrain vehicles, off-road utility vehicles, golf carts and snowmobiles would not be allowed to operate on city streets, right-of-ways and other public property.

Although the nine-member council, with two members absent, unanimously advanced the ordinance on first consideration last month, council members advanced it on second consideration last week but also moved to pause third consideration of the ordinance.

Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said she was pausing final consideration of the ordinance “in light of new information.”

“There are the people that are going to make mistakes and do dumb things,” Metro Can-Am owner Jared Bowman told the council last week. “That's fine. But I think if we take the opportunity to really look at this, give it a chance,” other cities like Marion that have permitted the use of UTVs on certain streets are “seeing some huge benefits with it.”

O’Donnell said it’s the mayor’s call to separate the second and third readings, which the council typically combines when considering most ordinance changes.

Todd said, “I believe that there were some reservations earlier that were addressed by the department. If that's not the case, if those reservations are outside of the scope of what was concerning, then I would not support that.”

A state law enacted in 2022 allowed cities to regulate usage of the vehicles.

There would be exceptions allowing use of the vehicles for survey by a licensed engineer or land survey, by emergency personnel or by a governmental entity or political subdivision in the course of employment duties, such as Park Cedar Rapids’ work downtown. Allowable uses of a snowmobile under Iowa code also would be permitted.

If the council enacts the policy, those who violate the ordinance would be penalized with a traffic citation, police Sgt. Graham Campshure previously said.