The proposed changes to the City’s golf cart ordinance will allow access to the City by residents of neighboring jurisdictions and expands the opportunities for the use of golf carts by residents and visitors to the City. The changes simplify the regulations and allow for reliance on existing Florida Statutes which provide comprehensive requirements regarding necessary equipment and golf cart operation. The revisions remove unnecessary requirements and the ordinance will more accurately align with Florida Statutes, Department of Transportation regulations, and current Florida Attorney General Opinions.
As Council is aware, this item was presented for first reading previously on May 18, 2021. After discussion by Council, the item was tabled to allow for staff to research the possibility of removing some of the streets from the prohibited list. The one street that Council had the most interest in removing the restriction from was Marine Parkway. The attached staff report confirms that there are currently several alternate routes that golf cart users can use to safely navigate around the city. Therefore it is staff's recommendation that the prohibited streets remain as they are currently identified. Also attached is a copy of the traffic study that was conducted for Marine Parkway to support staff's recommendation.