The ordinance would require extra measures, in addition to what is already required by the state, to register and drive a golf cart on Lakeway’s public streets.
This issue is an item the council has been considering for over a year now.
“I know a year ago in June, we said we would address this,” Lakeway Mayor Thomas Kilgore said. “We scheduled it for the month of May; it is the month of July; and we will solve it in August.”
Several people at the meeting expressed frustration with how long the process is taking.
“I feel like it's the perfect example of bureaucracy,” Lakeway resident Ashley Bryan said. “We’ve waited over a year, and we are still back at the exact same point. Follow state transportation codes; let the police follow and enforce state transportation codes. That would eliminate most of the concerns.”
One of the main concerns is the question of registering golf carts.
According to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, golf carts are considered unique vehicles. As a result, TxDMV does not require titles and registration for golf carts. The carts, however, are eligible to receive a license plate, and plates can be picked up from a county tax assessor-collector’s office.
However, the proposed ordinance for Lakeway would require annual registration with the police department.
Lakeway Assistant City Manager Joseph Molis said the goal would be to make things easier for police. Although, he added, it is possible to pull a license plate for a golf cart, so this would not be an issue if the council voted against the ordinance.
Under Texas government code 551, “Municipality may restrict operations on roads in the interest of public safety.” Using this language, the council will decide what streets are unsafe for golf carts, Molis said.
Texas code also allows municipalities to determine where the carts can drive. As a result, Lakeway would give golf carts access to all public roads, not just “to and from the golf course and 5 miles from home,” which is what the law currently allows.
Equipment requirements, such as headlights, will be identical to the Texas code. Additional requirements will include a slow-moving vehicle emblem. Golf cart drivers will also be asked to use recreation lanes if provided, not to pull trailers, have no more passengers than what the cart is designed for, not to allow lap riding and to move over for faster vehicles.
Mayor Pro Tem Gretchen Vance questioned whether golf cart registration is really necessary.
“Since Texas already has licensing on carts that they can pull out, are we creating work for an admin in either [the police department] or the city to reinvent the wheel, so to speak?” she said.
Council Member Louis Mastrangelo said he has yet to find, in the 12 or 13 cities he has researched, a single municipality that just adopts these ordinances.
“There are always modifications. This is why law was written the way it was,” he said.
No motion was carried, as this was a first reading. The council will revisit the issue Aug.1.
