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Discussion over a proposed golf cart ordinance came to the fore at the Lakeway City Council regular meeting Monday night.
Cities may choose to allow or prohibit golf carts from being driven on city streets under HB 2553, which the Texas Legislature passed at its last session.
Former City Council member Karl Ansbach, who worked with State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin on the legislation, presented his case for why the city should allow golf carts on city streets.
Lakeway’s three golf courses are evidence of an avid passion for the sport, so the desire to drive the motorized vehicles in the area is palpable.
Ansbach also noted the environmental benefits of more electric vehicles on the roads.
However, some council members expressed concerns about Lakeway’s narrow streets that limit visibility and about children driving the carts on roads.
“I know it saves gas money, but for the life of me, I can’t see golf carts driving on our narrow streets,” council member Dee Ann Burns-Farrell said.
Resident Bob Weest, a director of safety training for a national corporation, said accidents involving golf carts would be inevitable if they were allowed on city streets because irresponsible parents would allow or be ignorant of their children driving them.
“I have seen [kids] loaded up on those things. It is dangerous. It’s not a matter of when we’re going to have [an accident], it’s when,” Weest said.
Council member Dennis Wallace said lots of accidents involving carts occurred in a master-planned community where he lived that allowed golf carts on its wider city streets. Wallace added that anytime vehicles traveling at significantly different speeds are on the same road, the difference in speed will lead to accidents. Most golf carts travel at a top speed of 14 mph.
“I’m not convinced on this. I’ll entertain anything put out by a credible source, but I have yet to see that,” Wallace said.
Council member Alan Tye said the city had widened its streets as far as possible, but he would be more supportive of an ordinance that would require all golf cart drivers to hold a valid driver’s license and thus empower police officers to enforce the law.
Council members took no action but instructed staff members to draft a city ordinance for review.
Although the City Council adopted a proposed tax rate of 19.29 cents per $100 of assessed property value at its Sept. 11 special session, some council members advocated using money from the city’s $2.7 million general fund to offset the need to raise the tax rate 1.02 cents.
“If you look at our historic values, we always were a little under budget,” council member Joe Bain said. “I don’t think [drawing from the general fund] would put us in any danger.”
City Manager Steve Jones said it would be OK to use general reserve funds for capital expenses as long as the city doesn’t budget them for operating costs.
“We’ll still have adequate reserves” if the city made that decision, Jones said.
Mayor Dave DeOme asked the council how deep a hole they would want to dig if they decided to draw from general funds instead of raising the property tax rate.
He said the city suspended its road overlay projects and froze six unfilled staff positions because sales tax and building development revenues had fallen.
“These positions are positions I think staff has agreed are necessary,” DeOme said. “It does feel good to not raise taxes, but the other side of that coin is that we’ve got things to do.”
Council member Dave Taylor noted that the city lowered its property tax rate two years ago and that if it enacted the proposed increase the city would still assess a rate less than that of 2008.
In other action, council members:
3 Approved an annual interlocal agreement to continue providing police dispatch and call-taking services to the City of Bee Cave. Under the agreement, Bee Cave is set to pay Lakeway a lump-sum payment of $148,671 in October.
“I’m pleased to bring a winner back,” said Lakeway Police Chief Gordon Bowers said of the agreement, adding that the additional funds from previous agreements have enabled the police department to have two dispatchers on duty most of the time.
3 Tabled action on amending the city’s Solid Waste Collection Ordinance to include a service agreement for new customers, add previously revised late fees and restart fees, a limit on bundles for pick up to 8 bags total with two bundles the normal weekly amount and a limit of bundles to 3 feet in height and 3 feet in length.
3 Heard Ansbach urge the council to adopt an ordinance prohibiting smoking in public. He said it was ironic that the City of Lakeway touted its quality of life, but had not addressed the public health concern as had such cities as Austin, Westlake and Rollingwood.
“Second-hand smoke not only does but will kill,” Ansbach said.
3 Postponed discussion and action on a Special Use Permit request from Speedy Stop Food Stores to operate a convenience store at 2200 Lakeway Blvd., the site of the former Exxon service station.
*Declared Oct. 6 as National Night Out in the City of Lakeway.
Why is this subject coming up now, because of new council members who have moved here and are now looking to change something which has been in place for over 40 years. You saw the carts on the road when you came here, if you thought it was unsafe then there are other neighborhoods.
I know this has not been a problem here but we create one in our minds that we must act now. A man recently drown in a pool maybe we should have those things filled in around the city, also.
Those of us who have lived in Lakeway a long time remember the problems we had with children driving golf carts on roads before it was prohibited. There is a lot of truth to the saying that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.
I see a lot of impatient drivers behind me when I’m doing the speed limit in my car. I can imagine how those drivers will react to being behind a golf cart doing 10-14 mph. I hate to see even one person injured when it could have been avoided.
Believe it or not Bob, I’m a responsbile parent who think children of a certain age (11 or older) should be allowed to drive golf carts within their neighborhoods if they have their parent’s permission. I’ve heard that the only golf cart fatality so far in Lakeway was that of an inebriated adult golf cart driver…and also I should mention that I was almost killed today coming out of Randall’s in my SUV when a senior citizen ran a red light in her Buick totally unaware that she had done anything wrong. I think all Lakeway residents need to be a little more tolerant of the “other” generation! So between the fools behind the wheel of a car that drink and drive and/or text and drive, I’ll go on record to say that I would rather share the road with a bright, alert, and responsible 12 year-old golf cart driver any day!
DID YOU REALLY THINK IT THROUGH LAKEWAY?
The vote on the Golf cart ordinance is over, it passed unanimously. Not much of a surprise, after all, kids on golf carts are dangerous. Some golfers may be happy, they are still allowed to take their golf carts to the course and play, but since the law now says they must go straight to the course, they cannot pick up anyone on the way unless they literally live on the way. There are some golfers, however, that may not think this is so great. Those are the golfers that must drive to the course on roads that have a speed limit of over 35. That’s against the law now and they must get in the car to go to the course.
Did you really think this through Lakeway City Council? Were you in such a rush to get kids on golf carts off of the street that you decided to take privileges away from responsible adults too? Do you have many incidents of carts hitting deer at night on a golf cart? How about cars hitting deer? Is a responsible licensed adult on a golf cart less safe than a kid weaving back and forth on his bicycle as he rides down the road 3 to 5 abreast with his buddies? Wasn’t Lakeway at one time a golf and lake community? What happened? Do we have so little faith in our adult drivers that carts and cars can not co-exist legally on Lakeway’s roads? The new law states that they cannot co-exist, but why not?
Here are a few situations to think about.
The golfer plays golf till dusk and then stops to discuss the day’s shots with his buddies at the club. After an hour of chat it is well after dark. He will now have to walk home or call the Mrs. because it is against the law to drive after dark. Uh oh, honey-dos tomorrow!
Meanwhile down the road, an older lady is sitting alone at home. Her husband has gone to Houston to try to drum up some sort of business. Usually she would get on her golf cart and go to her neighbor’s house with a basket of hors d’œuvre and enjoy the company of old friends. She would not be sitting there thinking about the economy and how cruel it has been to them. Her depression would not be this bad. Her husband sold the second car when the economy turned south. They still had the fancy golf cart. It has lights and the yellow sign and is registered with the city. Obama would be proud of them, giving up the gas guzzling air polluting SUV and doing the short errands on the electric golf cart. He was even giving tax incentives for electric vehicles. Before the council meeting, she could still visit close friends and get to church on her golf cart. But she sits home. She is depressed that she can no longer go anywhere without bothering her friends. Her friends tell her to just buy a small car. How can she tell them she can’t afford to replace it?
Down Clara Van, a new family has moved into North Lakeway Village. They were disappointed that there was no gate to get to the golf course, but after much thought decided that being close to Hurst Harbor Marina where their boat is kept was much more important in that the whole family could go boating together. They bought a used golf cart with lights and a flip seat so that they could load up the cart and go to the boat without having to waste the gas and pollute the environment for such a short trip and they wouldn’t have to deal with the parking problem. They looked forward to dinner and music at the restaurant without having to even get into their gas guzzling truck. They were feeling pretty good about the arrangement. Now, just a few months after moving in, they cannot use their expensive golf cart at all. Though they live a few hundred yards from the golf course, there is no gate wide enough to get there and it is illegal for them to drive to the marina at any time of the day.
There are many other situations, I am sure; looking at Christmas lights, a neighborhood ride to enjoy the weather, going to a favorite place to watch the sunset, a drive to The Inn for dinner, taking the cart to a summer concert to hear the music, and on and on. On a golf cart these situations promote family time and allow citizens to enjoy their fine city without polluting the environment, using their gas guzzling vehicles or taking up parking spaces.
I don’t know whether or not any of the council members play golf or have golf carts. I would think that this ordinance does not affect any of them nor do I think any of them have a huge investment in a golf cart. I suspect that there was not any opposition from the citizens because they thought this was about keeping kids off of carts, not controlling adults.
Shame on you, Lakeway City Council.
To the last two entries: If you were so incensed about this decision, why didn’t you show up to voice your opinion and argue it at the several council meetings held for this purpose? Crying and moaning about what could have been, should have been, doesn’t cut it around here. Make time to attend the meetings if you don’t like the outcome of them, but don’t rant on about the City Council controlling adults, they’re not. Maybe if you sacrificed an hour of your “play time” as described above, things would have turned out different. You didn’t, so live with it and get over yourself!
Excuse all of us who do not attend your meetings. We elected people to office we thought would REPRESENT our interests. Guess we should have considered anyone who would run for an office that doesn’t pay, wouldn’t have much common sense.
Are Golfers better drivers than non Golfers? Are Low Speed vehicles less safe than bicycles? Why do they put lights on later model golf carts anyway? Were any of these questions really considered?
There is nothing wrong with someone using a low speed vehicle in their neighborhood…Which by the way have speeds of 13-24 mph stock. Most are around 19 mph not 14. Lakeway only has 3 streets with speed limits above 35mph. Lohmans, RR620 and Serenity Hills. Are drivers in this city for some reason less capable of acting reasonably on the road than the rest of Texas?
Oh and by the way…It isn’t over. We will have a petition to recall the ordinance
I am a voter and was in attendance for this meeting as good citizens should do. I am not on the city council as your response perceives I am. They are not my meetings…they are our meetings, you and me and every other citizen who pays taxes and lives here. I voted to elect people who respresent all our interest, not just yours or mine. The elected officials do just that. Create your petition because its your right. Oh and by the way…running for an office that doesn’t pay doesn’t mean you have no common sense, it just means you have to love what you do and are there for the right reasons. Why don’t you spend some time with the mayor and or city council speaking your mind to them, they’ll listen.