Lebanon — On second thought, buying a golf cart here might not be a good idea.
In March, the Lebanon City Council voted, 4-2, to allow golf carts on most streets. Carts are banned from Lebanon Street, South Street and Indianapolis Avenue either because they are state highways, or for safety reasons. Carts are also prohibited on Lafayette Avenue, because of safety concerns.
But Indiana State Police told Mayor Jim Acton Tuesday they are going to ticket golf cart drivers wherever they find them in the city limits.
Prosecutor Todd Meyer said state police have also told him they will ticket people who drive golf carts on public highways.
Acton said Tuesday that a state police trooper, whose name he could not recall, came to him Monday to talk about the golf cart ordinance.
“He didn’t really say what his problem with it was, other than golf carts are not authorized by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles,” Acton said.
Indiana State Police officials could not be reached for comment by press time.
The problem is in the definition of “public highway,” Meyer said.
“Any publicly-maintained road” is a public highway, he said. “A public highway is any street in a city or town that is publicly maintained, and it can include an alley.”
Meyer, knowing the state police enforcement would conflict with Lebanon’s ordinance, suggested a meeting at his office Thursday to talk things over.
“The city has attempted to address a local issue,” Meyer said. “That city ordinance may not be consistent with the state statute on traffic regulations.”
Meyer thinks a golf cart is a motorized vehicle under Indiana law. Such vehicles must meet Indiana Department of Motor Vehicles rules to be registered. Golf carts do not.
“The state police are indicating they are going to start ticketing and towing vehicles that are not in compliance with the motor vehicle regulations,” Meyer said.
Between 35 and 40 golf cart permits, costing $30 each, have been issued to city residents, Acton said.
Acton said he couldn’t speculate on whether the city would take legal action to keep the state police from citing golf cart drivers.
“I won’t know until after that meeting,” Acton said.
Police Chief Tom Garoffolo said his department will enforce the ordinance, because they’ve been told to by the city council and the city attorney.
The issue could pit state law against home rule, Garoffolo said. Under home rule, the city may establish ordinances and enforce regulations.
“You can tweak some things you normally wouldn’t be able to,” Garoffolo said.
A ban on golf carts would handicap the county’s annual Fourth of July Festival, committee member Lana Hale said Tuesday.
The committee depends on golf carts to check the parade route, to patrol the Lebanon High School parking lot where the parade is formed and to maneuver along crowded streets.
“We roam around that parking lot a thousand times” on parade day, Hale said.
The ordinance was passed in response to last year’s Fourth of July holiday season, when entrepreneurs rented dozens of golf carts. Police received “innumerable complaints” of reckless golf cart driving, including impromptu drag races and overloaded carts without headlights weaving down dark streets.
The ordinance golf cart rules
Lebanon’s golf cart ordinance requires that:
Owners pay an annual fee of $30, by May 1; have proof of insurance on themselves or on the cart at all times; carts are allowed on city streets between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. from May 1 to Sept. 30, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Oct. 1 to April 30; only licensed drivers may operate a golf cart; carts must have rear view mirrors, are banned from Lebanon Street, Indianapolis Avenue and South Street because they are also state highways, and are prohibited from Lafayette Avenue.
Violators can be fined up to $100; if they are ticketed twice in a calendar year, their golf cart permit will be suspended.
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