FEBRUARY 18, 2010 ISSUE
Golf Carts on Blowing Rock Roads by Spring
Golf carts will soon join cars, SUVs and motorcycles on the streets of Blowing Rock, as the Blowing Rock Town Council appears poised to pass an ordinance allowing golf carts on town roads.
The council considered the ordinance at its February 9 meeting but tabled the matter until March so staff could determine details such as the time it will take the police department to conduct annual inspections, how much road signage will cost, etc.
“I think, given this winter, we may want to add snowmobiles to this ordinance,” joked Mayor J.B. Lawrence.
The General Assembly in 2009 granted cities and towns the authority to regulate the use of golf carts. The draft ordinance under consideration allows golf carts on Blowing Rock town streets with speed limits of 35 mph or less and permits the crossing of Highway 321 by golf carts at the intersections with Possum Hollow Road, Sunset Drive and Green Hill Road/The Rock Road.
The draft ordinance would also require that golf carts be equipped with headlights, reflectors and other safety features; that the carts could only be used during daylight hours; the carts must be operated by a licensed driver; the golf carts must not exceed 20 mph; all passengers must be properly seated; and violators of the ordinance would be subject to an infraction and fine of $50.
According to a memo from Planning Director Kevin Rothrock, Blowing Rock Country Club Manager Eric Davidson reported that approximately 60 club members own private carts for golf use and another 15 own carts for personal use. Davidson expressed the Country Club’s desire to allow the use of carts on the roads at night, but Blowing Rock Police Chief Eric Brown said he would not recommend use at night, citing safety concerns—especially with Blowing Rock’s hills and curves.
Lawrence said he would like to see the permitted driving hours be extended to a half-hour before sunrise and a half-hour after sunset.
“I think the big ‘if’ for us is always the fog,” he said.
The first to speak at a public hearing on the ordinance was Jack Triolo, owner of Mountain Top Golf in Foscoe, the High Country’s largest supplier of golf carts. Triolo suggested the annual permit fee for the golf carts be much higher than the recommended $10 to cover the costs of registering and inspecting the vehicles, signage and issuing tickets. He also recommended a higher fine for violations, noting that the fine in Beech Mountain is $250. And he recommended that the town install plenty of signs around town informing motorists that golf carts were on the roads.
Dan Page, an owner of a golf cart, spoke in favor of allowing golf carts to be driven on town roads after dark. He argued that driving on snow and ice and riding bicycles at night are both allowed even through they are more dangerous than riding golf carts at night.
“I think we have proven…that golf carts can be driven safely day or night,” Page said.
Council member Jim Steele said he could not approve the ordinance without more information about the costs of allowing golf carts on the roads and a clear definition of golf carts, and several other council members agreed.
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