The Covington City Commission voted to amend a proposed ordinance that would expand the allowed area where city residents can drive golf carts and other slow-moving vehicles in the city this week.
The commission performed a first reading of the ordinance on Tuesday, following the vote to amend. The commissioners will cast a final vote on the ordinance in two weeks. The amendments include several new proposed regulations, including reducing the number of roads where carts and similar vehicles could go.
“We’re making this amendment to the ordinance for several reasons,” said Commissioner Tim Acri, who first proposed the ordinance last week. “First and foremost, currently, I think there’s a lot of confusion as to where vehicles can be operated, specifically, e-bikes, e-scooters, gas-powered bikes, scooters, etc. The current ordinance allows golf carts and other other vehicles to be operated north of 12th Street.
“We’re simply trying to clear the air here. This is not a golf cart amendment; this is a vehicle amendment that will allow other residents who don’t have the luxury of cars or catching a bus or an electric taxi or whatever the case may be to be able to move freely throughout the city.”
Current city law doesn’t mention golf carts specifically; instead, it uses an umbrella term, “low-speed vehicles,” which includes golf carts. Acri’s original proposal would add language referring to golf carts explicitly and would allow them to be driven on any city-owned road. They’re currently only allowed between the borders of the Ohio and Licking Rivers up to and including 12th Street (or MLK Boulevard) and Philadelphia Street. Driving on state-owned roads would be prohibited.
The amendments to Acri’s original proposal include the following:
- Add a requirement for seat belt assemblies that conform to federal regulations for golf carts
- Add a definition for “street-legal special purpose vehicle[s],” which refer to various all-terrain vehicles, mini trucks and military vehicles with pneumatic tires, among other vehicles. Such vehicles would be subject to the same strictures as golf carts.
- Low-speed vehicles of all kinds could only be driven in areas where the speed limit is 20 miles per hour or lower. Such vehicles would not be allowed to cross roads with speed limits of 35 miles per hour or higher, unless there’s a electronic traffic signal at the intersection.
City Solicitor Frank Schultz attempted to clarify what he believed were some residents’ misunderstandings.
“There’s been an understanding in our community that our code ordinances prohibits the use of motorized bicycles and scooters and other smaller types of vehicles from operating south of 12th Street,” Schultz said. “That’s actually not correct. Our ordinances do not currently prohibit that. So, part of what we did here is we’ve made it explicitly clear that vehicles like that are able to operate city wide. They just have to do so on streets with posted speed limits of 20 miles per hour or less and as long as they have a license and abide by some of the other regulations.”
Mayor Ron Washington said that by limiting the streets where low-moving vehicles could go, he hoped it would encourage cyclists to travel around the city more safely. He pointed to the Red Bikes, a nonprofit bike-sharing program.
“We’re encouraging [people] to ride red bikes, especially from some of the southern parts of 12th Street to the northern parts, for jobs and employment,” Washington said. “You know, I was one of those people who grew up, and I didn’t have a car, and I had to ride a bicycle. So, we’re encouraging people to ride on the streets safely.”
One city resident, former city commission candidate Aaron Wolpert, spoke out against the ordinance during the meeting’s public comment section, arguing the city’s safety infrastructure was already lacking. He rattled off a list of areas he viewed as unsafe and referenced the death of Gloria San Miguel, who was struck by a car and killed while riding her bike across the 11th Street Bridge in 2022.
“Look, nothing against low-speed vehicles,” Wolper told the commission. “They’re less deadly than cars and trucks. [I’m] all for of them, but thousands of Covington folks already own one. It’s called a bicycle, while we’re carving out privileges for a handful of golf carts. Let’s get serious about making streets safer for bikes and sidewalks safer for pedestrians. Don’t wait for a noisy few to call you up. Get out there and ask folks about their safety concerns and about what solutions they think will work on their streets.”
He concluded his statement by saying the city needed to develop “a comprehensive streetscape game agenda, thoroughly researched and vetted design standards for every block, protecting and enabling every street user, from pedestrian to cyclist to driver.”
The commission will perform a second reading and cast a final vote on the ordinance at the meeting on April 22. You can read the fully amended ordinance proposal (with Tuesday’s amendments highlighted red) below.