Michael Timmins, who has lived in Loudon for over 50 years, first visited the Hoit Road Marsh in Concord when he was an eager 10-year-old ready to explore the frozen marshland.
He spent weekends on the ice with his father, with a glint in his eye and cold wind running through his hair, as he played hockey, ice skated and learned how to ride various motorized vehicles on the frozen surface.
Timmins had been utilizing the marsh for 40 winters when it suddenly became illegal to ride there. He was one of the people directly affected by a law passed in 2019 that “prohibits off-highway recreational vehicles from traveling on Hoit Road Marsh in the city of Concord.”
The ban, slipped into the state budget through House Bill 2, was enacted in response to multiple complaints from residents near the marsh.
On Tuesday, Timmins testified in favor of a bill that would repeal the probation of recreational vehicles on Hoit Road Marsh. House Bill 571, which was proposed in late 2021, passed through the House or Representatives on Jan. 6 by a vote of 189-158.
“I pride myself on my character as a person, so it was pretty hard to digest some of the things that were being said about (riders making noise and polluting),” Timmins said. “The last thing I’ve ever wanted to do is become a nuisance for anyone.”
Those in favor of keeping the ban in place continue to cite two major concerns: the environmental impacts of the riders, and the noise they create.
State Rep. Suzanne Smith, a Hebron Democrat, started the hearing before the Senate Transportation Committee by relaying the concerns of residents.
“There were numerous complaints about noise, traffic, trash on the side of the road and cars parked blocking traffic along the marsh. And the city could not do anything about this because they tried to pass an ordinance and were turned down because it’s under state jurisdiction,” said Smith, who was one of the members of the House committee that narrowly recommended lifting the ban.
While multiple Hoit Road residents testified that the noise has significantly bothered them in past years, others stated the opposite, testifying that they couldn’t hear the riders, who served as stewards for the environment by picking up any trash on weekends.
Officials with the state Department of Fish and Game responded to noise complaints dating back to 2016, according to a report presented at the hearing. Officers visited the marsh periodically in the winter but did not observe any illegalities or a noisy environment.
“The pond and much of its environment is under control of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department,” said State Rep. Andrew Renzullo, a Hudson Republican. “They also testified that nothing with noise was recorded and no outright bans like this exist in the state, except for this one passed in 2019.”
Renzullo represented the majority opinion of the House committee in favor of overturning the ban. The Senate transportation committee will vote on the bill at a later date.