Rollingwood talks on motorized scooters shift away from outright ban, focus on abandonment with up to $500 fine

Whether or not to ban motorized scooters has been a subject of much discussion among Rollingwood officials over the last several months, and will continue to be for at least another month.

During the Dec. 20 regular meeting, City Council differentiated between private and commercial motorized scooters, and leaned toward only banning the latter within city limits. That discussion marked the third round of talks from council on a new ordinance that will carry with it up to a $500 fine.

Council continued the discussion further during its Jan. 15 meeting and shifted away from the prohibition of scooter use within city limits. Council is now leaning to prohibit the abandoning of scooters, whether commercial or private, but still allow their use in the city.

Council Member Wendi Hundley clarified that in this case, abandonment applies to scooters left on any public property or any unauthorized private property.

Beyond the exception of an abandonment of the ban, the specifics of the new ordinance have not changed much since the agenda item was first introduced in October. Anyone who abandons a motor-assisted scooter on any public property within the city would still be subject to penalty.

Those in violation of these rules would be committing a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $500, the ordinance states, and each violation would constitute a separate offense.

To end the item discussion, council agreed to request a change of the proposed ordinance that would strike language pertaining to an all out ban on motorized scooter use, and will likely take up the agenda item in February.