At its meeting last week, Ludlow City Council continued discussion of a potential e-bike ordinance.
Council members narrowed down areas of concern and questions moving forward. Based on reviews of other cities’ ordinances, as well as input from council and city public safety officials, City Attorney Michelle Eviston will present a draft of the ordinance for a first reading at the next council meeting.
Eviston provided input for some of the specific concerns. On whether e-bikes can be registered, she said the state requires registration only for class three e-bikes. Class three e-bikes are restricted to riders age 16 and up. Other cities follow the state ordinance and only require registration for class three. The attorney suggested Ludlow do the same.
Although the state does not define e-bike classes in its ordinance, U.S. Department of the Interior lists e-bike class one as pedal-assist only; class two includes pedal- and throttle-assist and can go up to 20 mph; class three provides throttle-assist only when pedaled and can go up to 28 mph.
The current Ludlow bicycle law was passed in 1996, and does not allow any bike riding on the sidewalk. Council member Julie Terry Navarre asked that younger children, age 8 and under, might be allowed to ride on the sidewalk because they are often just learning to ride.
Next, council explored how to handle violations of the new ordinance. Eviston noted violations could be civil or criminal. For civil violations, an appeal could be made to Code Enforcement. After a brief discussion, members agreed violations of the ordinance would be civil. Appeals would be handled like other code enforcement violations, with fines increasing based on the number of violations.
Council members also discussed adding impoundment as a requirement for those violating the ordinance four times or more. The impounded e-bike would be held until fines were paid.
Eviston said she will draft the ordinance to be ready for a first reading at the city’s next council meeting on Sept. 10.
