Glenwood is a step closer to allowing ATV/golf carts
News | Published on September 19, 2022 at 11:52am CDT
By Tim Douglass
Glenwood City Commissioners are closer to viewing the final draft of two ordinances that will allow ATVs and golf carts to drive on city streets.
Commissioners spent nearly an hour at last Tuesday’s regular meeting discussing a few changes they’d like to see in the final ordinance. Some of those changes came from the public who attended an informational meeting on the matter a few weeks ago. Some of the more significant changes the commission wanted to see in the final ordinances included allowing both types of ATVs and golf carts to drive on city streets year round, and they will not be limited to daytime hours if the vehicles are equipped with front, back and signal lights. All such vehicles will need taillights to operate on city streets during the day, but a slow moving sign will not be required on golf carts.
Another clarification is that the ordinance will license the vehicle, not the person, for permit to drive on city streets and only a person with a valid driver’s license will be allowed to operate ATVs and/or golf carts on city streets.
The city will likely provide stickers that can be applied to a visible area on the vehicle once the permit process is completed and the vehicle is licensed for operation on city streets. There was discussion about providing other, after-hours locations to get permits for ATVs and golf carts, but that was not finalized. At this point, the ordinance calls for the permits to be issued at the city offices, but there was discussion about adding the Glenwood Police Department as another location for providing permits after hours.
While the commission did not yet decide on the fee that would be charged for an ATV/golf cart permit, an annual fee of $75 to $120 was discussed. The ordinance will not include the fee since it can be determined or changed on an annual basis as with other fees the city charges.
After the discussion, City Attorney Troy Nelson told commissioners he would incorporate their suggestions into the proposed ordinance. “We’re getting close and I’ll do my best to revise the ordinance, but I’m not sure it will be ready in two weeks,” Nelson explained.
Commissioners agreed and suggested that the ordinances be ready for reviewal, and possibly the first reading, by the first regular meeting in October. That would mean ATVs and golf carts could be driving on city streets in November. The city wants to get the ordinances passed before the ice-fishing season begins, allowing ATVs owners to drive through town to get to ice-fishing houses on Lake Minnewaska.
