Chuck Riedhammer, executive director of Virginia's Spearhead Trails, was talking to an ATV rider about his new, 75-mile Mountain View Trail and its trailhead, located just blocks from historic, downtown St. Paul. The rider looked at him and asked:
"Is your town ATV tolerant or ATV friendly?"
The question struck a chord with Riedhammer. "It's profound, and came off-the-cuff from one of our riders," he said. It made him take a closer look at signing and other issues prior to the trail's ribbon-cutting ceremony. "It occurred to me that the town wasn't signed well enough to direct ATV traffic. I started talking to people in town, and they said, `We're ATV friendly, we want them to go anywhere.' And I said `no, you don't understand.'"
Riedhammer saw the potential for negative reactions by downtown businesses if ATVs weren't properly directed while visiting their small town. So he created a toolkit to help his town and others co-exist with both motorized and non-motorized recreationists. It features a proactive list titled, "Ten Steps For Your Town & Downtown Businesses To Welcome Outdoor Enthusiasts." It's designed to help trail towns address issues such as parking, traffic flow and safety. For St. Paul, that meant not only for visiting ATV riders, but hikers and bicyclists, as well those trailering in boats, canoes and kayaks, heading for the scenic Clinch River.
"I personally think that trail towns are the hot thing," explains Riedhammer. "The concept, for me, is that the trailhead is a commerce center. That's the reason you make the town ATV friendly. We have people coming here with trucks and trailers, and it's not just ATV riders. Once I wrapped that into the conversation with businesses, it sanitized and diversified it enough to get more people onboard." Today, ATV riders are directed from the trailhead to areas behind downtown buildings, where they find parking and wash stations.
Plans call for Spearhead Trails to be a 500-mile OHV trail system. As more towns get involved in trail planning to connect to the system, Riedhammer will use his 10 Steps list to build consensus first, then trails. "The 10 Steps stands strong as the core for what we're doing," he said. "We're the trail developers, the regional authority, working with the Department of Housing and Community Development. We'll work with local city officials, chambers and businesses, and have public meetings. We'll be able to say this trail is coming in a year, and here's what you need to do to get ready. We're not going to be `ATV tolerant', we're going to be `ATV friendly'. It's almost a great tag line."
Riedhammer plans to expand the 10 Steps list. Number 11 will be to encourage towns to relax ordinances, such as transient lodging policies. That will allow more bed-and-breakfasts in trail towns, providing additional lodging and increased revenue streams. "The number one question I get from riders is `where can I stay?' " said Riedhammer. Locally, he adds, the new Mountain View Trail is already considered an economic success story. "The town has seen five new businesses open and $600,000 in private investment since June."
Here is Riedhammer's list as it stands today:
10 Steps For Your Town & Downtown Businesses To Welcome Outdoor Enthusiasts
1. Connect to the town: Create a safe and clearly defined path from trailheads or access points to the heart of your community.
2. Direct traffic: Create signage, clear right-of-way rules, and well-marked designated "best routes" for alternative vehicles and off-highway vehicle (OHV) uses on shared roads.
3. Provide parking: Set aside safe, ample and functional parking for vehicles with trailers within walking distance of the town center.
4. Emphasize safety: Offer safety tips and periodic courses; consider the potential for issues. Promptly address any issues.
5. Be a good host: Provide and advertise a key point person or business as an information point and post contact numbers. If there is a visitor center, make sure the person working it is knowledgeable of the town and the trail system. Offer hospitality programs for front-line people.
6. Prepare businesses: Help identify sales and entrepreneurial opportunities driven by visitors. Consider voluntary signage for trail friendly merchants.
7. Be a good business: Have your business hours reflect the customers' needs. Greet your customers warmly, make them feel welcomed to be there. Make your windows, if available, appealing and inviting. Keep your store clean and well-kept and stocked. Offer public use restrooms. Light your stores at night.
8. Be a good town: Offer a town map with local businesses and phone numbers. Have signs noting the direction of emergency facilities. Keep sidewalks neat and free of debris. Offer trash cans around town. Make the town feel safe. Reasonably maintain vacant stores, consider putting in attractive window displays to attract attention and potential buyers.
9. Share Information: Create maps, itineraries, signage and brochures. Cross-promote businesses.
10. Program the space: Consider hosting special events, surrounding and involving the trail system.
Read more about Spearhead Trails and the grand opening of its Mountain View Trail in the September, 2013, NOHVCC newsletter at: http://www.nohvcc.org/Materials/Newsletter/News09-2013. Visit the Spearhead ATV Trail website at: http://www.spearheadtrails.com/trails/mountain-view-trail.aspx.
