Lebanon Reporter

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June 9, 2009

Golf carts could return to city streets

By Rod Rose/The Lebanon Reporter

Lebanon — Beginning July 1, pending legal review, golf carts that meet city standards will be allowed on Lebanon streets.

City officials warned golf cart owners not to start their engines prematurely.

“I want everyone to understand that this does not go into effect until July 1,” Mayor Huck Lewis said Monday.

On that day a state law allowing cities to regulate golf carts takes effect. The law clarifies confusing, contradictory and sometimes contentions positions between the Indiana State Police, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and local authorities.

The carting controversy began several years ago, when Lebanon streets were flooded by dozens of carts rented from an entrepreneur who trucked them into town for the Fourth of July festivities. Police were deluged with complaints of recklessly driven golf carts overloaded with passengers.

Before then, a few residents had used carts for errands and short trips.

An Indiana State Trooper began ticketing golf cart drivers, citing them for violations of motor vehicle laws.

Lebanon’s city council passed an ordinance designed to restrict and regulate golf cart use, but the ordinance was declared illegal in 2008. More than 70 golf cart permits, at $30 each, were issued in 2007. No permits were sold in 2008.

Darren Chadd, an attorney with the city’s law firm, will review the state law and Lebanon’s three-year-old golf cart ordinance.

If he finds no conflicts, carts are go for launch July 1.

Clerk-Treasurer Debbie Ottinger will keep her office open for 12 hours that day, in anticipation of the demand for $30 permits.

“Nothing will happen until everything’s been approved,” Ottinger said at Monday’s city council meeting.

Previous permits are invalid, she said Tuesday. “These permits are only for a specific year.”

Golf carts must be owned by the registrant, Ottinger said. No one renting a golf cart will be given a permit.

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