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Grabill resident Lori Nash uses her golf cart to travel the block or so to her job, to pick up mail and to get to the grocery store often with her German shepherd and husband in tow.
She’s been cruising around the small northeast Allen County town for nine years in the cart. But beginning this week she can do so legally.
Under a new town ordinance, residents of Grabill can drive their golf carts on public streets for a fee of $25 a year. Clerk-Treasurer Cindy Barhydt issued the first permit to Nash on Tuesday.
A state law that took effect July 1 gives cities and towns the option to allow golf carts. Without an ordinance, state law prohibits the small carts from roads.
Golf carts are a popular transportation option in many of northeast Indiana’s lake communities. Cities and towns in Allen County are now taking up the discussion.
The Huntertown Town Council and New Haven City Council plan to introduce the issue for discussion in the coming weeks. Grabill and Monroeville already have ordinances allowing golf carts. But Woodburn and Leo-Cedarville officials haven’t jumped onto the golf cart bandwagon.
Monday night, the Woodburn City Council decided not to pass such a law. No one is using the carts in the city, and it has not been a problem, Clerk-Treasurer Lesa Meadows said.
The issue has not been discussed at Leo-Cedarville Town Council meetings and is not expected to come up, town administrator Peggy Garton said.
The carts, however, are being used in Huntertown, and reckless driving through housing additions has sparked complaints from residents, Town Councilman John Hidy said.
Groups of kids have driven golf carts through stop signs and through neighbors’ yards. Other golf cart drivers have been stopped for driving on Indiana 3, a four-lane highway that cuts through the suburban town, Hidy said.
The council needs to decide whether to enforce the ban or to allow golf carts on town roads, Hidy said. And he plans to introduce an ordinance for discussion in September.
New Haven officials have not seen anyone using golf carts. But Councilman Terry Werling, R-at large, suggested last week that the city should allow the carts on city roads to ensure a better quality of life for residents. It would also give residents a cheap way to move around their neighborhoods, he said.
Werling provided the council with a copy of Hamilton’s ordinance for consideration. The issue is listed for discussion on the council’s Tuesday agenda.
Monroeville also based its ordinance on Hamilton’s version. The town passed the ordinance before the state legislature changed the state law, Town Marshal Phil Meyer said.
About 15 people have registered for the $25 permit since the town council passed the law more than a year ago, Meyer said.
The town’s aging population uses golf carts to drive to friends’ homes. They can stay on the cart to chat without having to get out of a vehicle, Meyer said.
Before the town passed the ordinance, Meyer worried that operators wouldn’t be protected by insurance if they were in accidents. The ordinance now requires cart owners to get extra insurance because their auto insurance won’t cover the vehicles off their property, he said.
Like Grabill, Monroeville requires a valid driver’s license to prevent children from operating the carts. Both towns also require golf carts to have a slow-moving vehicle triangle or flag. They also need headlights to operate at night and must be kept off public sidewalks.
Grabill officials were also seeing the carts on roads, mainly driven by people with disabilities or who have a tough time getting around, Town Council President Wilmer Delagrange said.
The council approved the ordinance in late July, but first the council had a public hearing. No one spoke for or against the law, but cart owners asked how soon they could apply for a permit, he said.
Nash, the town’s first applicant, said the cart is convenient and saves her and her husband money on gas. It takes two months to use up the cart’s gas tank, she said.
“We use it do everything here in Grabill,” Nash said.
She estimates that nine other people actively use the carts in town, and she believes more will follow.
