It will cost $12 every five years for Peachtree City residents to register their golf carts, if a staff proposal is approved by the City Council Thursday night.

The proposal does not, however, address the modification of golf carts for safety reasons, which drew significant criticism when it was proposed last fall.

The registration fee will allow the city to break even on the proposal, which was brought forth in September but tabled by the previous council. At the time, city officials said they wanted to create a more current database of golf cart owners, as police have been stymied with outdated information while checking into complaints of reckless driving on the cart path and stolen golf cart complaints.

If approved, the city would use different-colored decals each cycle to show whether a cart’s registration is current or not. Currently, the city only requires golf cart owners to register once, with that registration being valid as long as the person owns the golf cart.

Officials have estimated that between 9,000 and 12,000 golf carts are actively used in the city.

It will cost an estimated $120,000 to print the decals and mail out bills, according to city estimates. The staff proposal would allow any surplus money collected by the registration program to go straight back into the city’s golf cart path maintenance program.

Staff is proposing to stagger the registration process over several months.

Golf cart dealers will not be required to pay a transfer fee when they purchase a cart, but they must notify the city when they purchase a cart and later provide sales information once the cart is sold, according to a memo from staff to council.

The proposed ordinance would also provide for a $20 penalty for anyone who fails to register their cart within 10 days of purchase. Anyone caught with an unregistered cart could also face a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 180 days in jail; such sentences are left to the discretion of the city’s municipal court judge.

In other business, council will consider a rezoning for an 8.45 acre tract on the north end of the city. The tract, located on Old Senoia Road, is currently zoned for agricultural reserve and would be changed to limited use residential under the proposal from Chadwick Homes.

The company wants to build a 23-lot single-family cluster subdivision. A previous proposal was for 32 lots, but that was tabled by council at its Oct. 20 meeting after several council members balked at the density.

The density has been reduced to 2.7 homes per acre, which is less than Ardenlee is zoned for at four homes per acre.

Included in the plan is a park that will be owned and maintained by a homeowners association with parking spaces for guests.

The city’s planning staff is recommending approval of the rezoning.

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