A Park Meadows man who wants to launch a taxi service using all-terrain vehicles was effectively turned away by a majority of the Park City Council on Thursday night, the second time since January he has encountered resistance at City Hall as he tries to start the business.
Gary Moss had wanted the City Council to grant his firm, called Trigger LLC, the ability to drive the all-terrain vehicles on public streets. In early January, there was hesitancy among members of the City Council as they considered whether to enact a law that would allow all-terrain vehicles to be driven on public streets.
Moss returned to the City Council on Thursday with the idea, but four of the five City Councilors indicated in a straw poll they did not support idea. City Councilman Joe Kernan cast the dissenting vote, saying people would enjoy the all-terrain vehicle taxis. Kernan said perhaps City Hall could allow the service with a limited number of vehicles and restrict them to certain streets.
But others, including City Councilman Alex Butwinski and Police Chief Wade Carpenter, said they had concerns about the safety of the all-terrain vehicles. The police chief told the elected officials the vehicles are not outfitted with airbags and they do not offer adequate protection if they are in an accident.
State law prohibits all-terrain vehicles from using public roads in cities with populations greater than 7,500 unless municipal leaders enact a law allowing the practice. Park City has not enacted such a law.
In an interview after his appearance on Thursday, Moss said the straw poll doomed the idea for this ski season.
“It’s a done deal, as far as I’m concerned. They haven’t left the door open for anything,” Moss said.
He plans to instead move the business idea to Jackson, Wyo. He wants to start the all-terrain vehicle taxi service in Jackson on May 1, toward the beginning of that community’s busy summer-tourism season.
“I’m going to prove the business elsewhere and go from there,” he said.
Moss said there is a possibility he will approach City Hall again prior to the next ski season about allowing the service in Park City.
Moss had wanted City Hall approval to operate two six-passenger all-terrain vehicles manufactured by Polaris on public roads. He has said the open-sided vehicles are street legal. Trigger LLC invested $40,000 in purchasing and insuring the two vehicles, he said. Moss said in January he was losing between $2,000 and $3,000 in business each week he was not allowed to operate.
He had said he wanted to use the all-terrain vehicles to offer tours of Old Town, including Main Street, in addition to a traditional taxi service. He had said Trigger could also take people on tours of the Guardsman Pass area during the summer.
Moss had claimed municipal crews in either the Water Department or with the Park City golf course use similar vehicles on a public street in Thaynes Canyon. He has said city leaders were discriminating against him.