City officials ponder golf cart, ATV policies

Mike Christopherson

But what about four-wheelers? What about golf carts? What about those scooters that some people need to get around? Regulations on the books are less specific for all of them, but that might not be the case for long, as the city Public Safety Committee on Monday discussed ways to address "special vehicles" operating on the city's streets.   

Four-wheelers are treated similarly to snowmobiles, City Administrator Aaron Parrish explained, and people on the scooters are classified as "pedestrian mobility," meaning they're treated exactly as a pedestrian would be.   

As for golf carts, city officials are talking with Polk County officials about an ordinance that would allow them to be ridden in the lakes areas, which would require an official vehicle registration sticker through the county or lake association. But if the city were to allow them on county roads within the city limits, such as Polk County #61 on the way to Minakwa Golf Course, the golf carts would likely need to be registered, too.   

But what if someone wanted to drive a golf cart to, say, Highland Complex to watch some softball games? Or what if someone didn't have a golf cart but had a four-wheeler and wanted to cruise over to watch a ball game? Those are the kinds of things that need further discussion, Parrish said. "We need some feedback to help us frame this discussion," he said. "Do people want four-wheelers driving around town? Is that OK with them?"   

Mayor Dave Genereux, who rides a four-wheeler a lot for his work as a crop consultant, doesn't think it should be OK to drive freely around town on four-wheelers, unless it's for snow removal purposes. "You don't need to be a licensed operator, which opens up a whole new series of problems," he said. "They have a lot of power, they're noisy, and they cut up the grass."   

Golf carts are "another animal" that have much slower top speeds, Genereux said, but that doesn't mean Motherway wants people of all ages tooling around city streets on them. "I'd be against kids driving them around town," Motherway said. "And side streets are one thing, but I wouldn't want them on the main thoroughfares because that would be a recipe for disaster."   

If any policy is crafted, Parrish said it likely couldn’t include language specifying that certain locations or destinations are OK, while others are not. "You would have to allow it generally in the community, with parameters, but you couldn't include specific destinations but prohibit other destinations," he explained.

Further discussions are forthcoming.

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Source: http://www.crookstontimes.com/news/x1314975965/City-officials-ponder-golf-cart-ATV-policies

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