FLOWERY BRANCH – The vote was unanimous Thursday evening as the Flowery Branch City Council decided after 90-minutes of back-and-forth public comment to spend $12,360 to retain a traffic engineer and begin the process of creating an ordinance to govern the use of PTVs.
What’s a PTV? Georgia law defines a PTV, or Personal Transportation Vehicle, as: “Any motor vehicle having no fewer than three wheels and an unladen weight of 1,300 pounds or less and which cannot operate at more than 20 miles per hour if such vehicle is authorized to operate on local roads by a local authority.”
In Flowery Branch’s situation the PTVs under scrutiny are what most people refer to as “golf carts”. But the issue before the council was not about golf carts used on golf courses chasing a golf ball, rather the issue at hand for the quickly-growing south Hall municipality is golf carts used in several large subdivisions and operated on the public roadways within those communities.
A couple of Saturdays ago a number of golf cart (PTV) operators, primarily in the Sterling on the Lake Subdivision, received traffic tickets from local police. In the wake of that event the following Facebook post was made by Flowery Branch Mayor Mike Miller:
Golf Cart issue update: There were 6 tickets issued on Saturday and those 6 people will be contacted by the end of business tomorrow to update them as to the status of those citations. As far as I know, there were no tickets issued for golf carts Sunday or Monday so if YOU received one on Sunday or Monday please let me know. Please don't post or comment that you heard someone got one, those type of post aren't helping, they only muddy the waters. We will continue to operate under the guidelines that everyone has understood to be the case if your golf cart has the equipment to operate safely, such as headlights, rear view mirrors, hip restraint seat belts, etc. and operated by a licensed driver in a safe manner there will be no issues or citations issued. The city attorney is working on an ordinance dealing with golf carts but to meet the state law that allows local jurisdictions to pass such ordinances, there are quite a few steps and improvements that have to be taken and cost money.
But the issue surrounding PTVs is much older than just a few weeks; it has been the topic of discussion for quite some time. Supporters of creating a PTV ordinance even have a website. (Click here to visit that site.)
City Attorney Ron Bennett told the council that if they decided to allow PTVs to operate on public roads under the city’s jurisdiction they would need to comply with state laws, and that would require creating a written ordinance governing PTV use.
“To operate a Personal Transportation Vehicle, which is what I understand most, if not everyone owns in Sterling on the Lake, or anywhere in the city for that matter, has to be allowed by a local ordinance,” Bennett said.
“If the council does not pass a local ordinance that allows PTV operation on public streets it would not be legal,” Bennett added.
A state mandated prerequisite to writing that ordinance is that the governing authority use the services of a traffic engineering consultant, hence the need for the $12,360 start-up cost to retain Suwanee engineering firm Clark Patterson and Lee.
Two dozen people took turns at the podium arguing on either side of the issue.
Those opposed didn’t see a need to spend $12,360 for engineering services; an amount they said would rapidly increase once the city discovered they would have to provide traffic control devices, signage and road striping.
Some argued that despite the fact that Sterling on the Lake today markets itself as a golf cart community it was never created for that purpose.
Some wondered aloud how the city would implement PTV traffic in the downtown area, and how did the city plan to interconnect golf-cart-allowable neighborhoods. Others said slow moving golf carts frustrated drivers trying to pass.
Many who spoke said they moved into Sterling because of the golf cart lifestyle and had spent amounts in excess of $6000 to purchase a new golf cart.
Despite the polarized viewpoints Mayor Miller said the time had come to formalize a PTV ordinance.
“We’ve been operating under the policy that if it’s done in a safe manner by the understood rules that we’ve had in place that the police will be okay with that as long as it’s done in a safe manner,” Miller said.
But that era has ended, according to Miller, and the next step for the city is clear. “Our plan is to put a PTV plan in place so that all of the rules and the regulations are spelled out in black and white and that everybody is on the same page.”
City Manager Bill Andrew said it would probably be the end of summer before the engineering report is completed, public hearings are held, and a formalized ordinance is brought before the city council for their approval.
“As a city we have an obligation to follow state law,” Miller said.
A unanimous vote of approval was given by council to spend $12,390 and begin the process of creating a PTV ordinance for the city.
DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY ENDORSED BY COUNCIL
Last week's torrential rains that led to the catastrophic failure of Cantrell Road at a culvert near Cemetery Road pushed Mayor Mike Miller into declaring a state of emergency for the city.
Thursday night that declaration received unanimous support from the city council. That move will allow repair work to commence immediately.
"The main issue is there's a gas line in the area that's completely exposed; there's a reused sewer line that's exposed," explained City Manager Bill Andrew.
Andrew explained that a funding application with GEMA (Georgia Emergency Management Agency) could possibly take months for approval and that the city would use SPLOST funds for the repair and hope to later be reimbursed by the state. He did say he was unsure if the city would qualify for reimbursement.
Andrew said the normal bidding process could be bypassed and that he was confident Simpson Contracting, who has done other work for the city, would be an excellent choice for tackling the project.
Even at that, Andrew said, repair work could last several months.
