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Bigger, faster golf carts targeted

Council cites safety concerns, may regulate cart speed and size

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizen.com

Bigger and faster golf carts may soon be banned from Peachtree City’s cart paths — but questions about how big and how fast have sent a proposed ordinance on the issue back to the drawing board.

Last week the City Council tabled a proposal that would limit the speed, height, width and emissions of golf carts so they couldn’t be modified to exceed the original manufacturer’s specifications. Council directed city staff to meet with golf cart dealers in town to get input on the matter.

City Clerk Jane Miller said the city’s concern is for safety and also due to damage to cart path tunnels from golf carts that are much taller than traditional ones as they come from the factory or dealer.

“And some of them take up more of the golf cart path than they’re supposed to,” Miller said, referring to wider carts.

Some golf carts have been spotted in town tricked out to appear similar to monster trucks, looking like mini-Bigfoots with large, wide wheels with big treads, and jacked up a bit off the ground.

Cliff Stern, a professor at Georgia Tech who lives in Peachtree City, asked council for more detailed specifics about the regulations, and if it would affect golf carts which have more length to accommodate more passengers.

Roger Westin of Peachtree Golf Cars noted that longer golf carts are usually modified by the shop with increased horsepower to help carry the extra weight up hills. “If we can’t do that, we can’t meet the customers’ needs,” he said.

Mayor Steve Brown said Westin’s concern was legitimate and needed to be addressed.

Councilman Steve Rapson said he didn’t envision Peachtree City police holding roadblocks on the cart path to check everyone’s golf cart to make sure it met specifications.

Councilwoman Judi Rutherford noted that the city doesn’t allow four-wheelers and many other motorized vehicles on the cart path system for safety reasons also.

The decision to table the new ordinance also delays the approval of a proposed $12 fee that will be charged to each golf cart owner for registration every five years. Currently the city only requires owners to register once, and new owners are required to re-register the cart once they take ownership, even if it has a city golf cart decal on already.

Officials said the new regulations would apply to all carts in the city and could be enforced when the new registration system goes into effect, likely in January next year.

The new registration process is needed to keep a better handle of who owns what cart, particularly to aid with police investigations into stolen carts and reckless cart driving, city officials have said.

The current database of golf cart registrations contains quite a bit of outdated information, officials said.