by SC Reporter Emilie Alfino
City Council on June 4 voted unanimously to send the Shared Use Path Master Plan back to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee to create a prioritized list of improvements as an addendum to the Plan.
Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee Makes E-Bike Recommendations
The Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC) was charged with reviewing policies of other cities as well as incident reports from the shared-use paths of the City of Sanibel and asked to formulate recommendations to present to City Council. Here are PRAC’s recommendations (these are only recommendations, which City Council decided to send back to the committee with their comments for further consideration):
1. The PRAC supports continuing to allow Class 1 e-bikes on the shared-use paths.
→ Council agreed with this recommendation.
2. Requests City Council consider allowing Class 2 e-bikes on the shared-use paths; however, the committee recommends that Class 3 e-bikes should not be allowed on the shared-use paths.
→ There was much discussion on this topic. Public comment included opposition to this unless speed limits were imposed. Billy Kirkland, owner of Billy’s Rentals, opined that Class 2 e-bikes are actually safer than Class 1. Council member John Henshaw said it’s a huge mistake to allow anything with a throttle (“An electric bike with a throttle is a motorcycle.”). And it was noted that Class 1 bikes can be modified to go up to 30 miles per hour. Council members were not decisive or in agreement about this recommendation.
3. Recommends continued prohibition of Electric Personal Assistive Mobility Devices
→ Council members agreed with this recommendation.
4. Recommends not instituting speed limits on the shared-use paths and that efforts should be focused on education and enforcement.
→ This was another topic of much discussion. Citizen Larry Schopp said there must be speed limits if Class 2 e-bikes are permitted. “If Class 2 bikers had to ride on the road, it would not create a safety problem; it’s easier to pass a bicycle than a golf cart,” Schopp said. How would we post the speed limits, and how would we enforce them? Vice Mayor Mike Miller said, “Never prohibit what you cannot enforce.”
5. Requests City Council consider lowering the age requirement for e-bike riders to 16 years of age (with additional discussion to consider lowering the e-bike rider age to 12 to 15 years in the future).
→ The Council did not reach consensus on this, with three members wanting to change the age limit to 16 years, and others saying that for Class 1 e-bikes, 12 years old would be acceptable.
The Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee must now come back to City Council with a little clearer direction for Council’s decision.
Who protects the pedestrians? Many are older people. Where is our old regulation prohibiting motorized vehicles on the SUP?
E bikes should be PROHIBITED from the shared use path!! Permantey! They have the potential to cause physical harm to walkers and runners using the path!