When Mayor Scott Willis addressed residents at Westfield Washington Public Library for a town hall meeting in June, he revealed his vision for turning Westfield into a golf cart community.
As summer winds down, those plans appear to be heating up.
Assistant Westfield Police Department Chief Scott Jordan kicked off the conversation with an informal presentation before the Westfield City Council Aug. 5. He said the police department has been assisting city leaders in the process to amend the current golf cart ordinance, with an aggressive timeline to have a new ordinance in place next spring.
Indiana law prohibits golf cart use on public streets unless a municipality’s council passes an ordinance. Westfield approved such an ordinance in 2011, with an amendment in 2018 to expand use on perimeter neighborhood paths in the city’s southeast side and on the Midland Trace Trail between Carey Road and Grand Junction Plaza.
“When the ordinance was passed, only about 110 to 120 carts a year were part of the program,” Jordan said. “Since that time, we now have 900 carts in the city and it grows every year. To date, we have not had any major incidents between a cart and a pedestrian on a city trail or path. We have had incidents, but nothing on our own paths or trails that was significant.”
Jordan said the bulk of the city’s issued golf cart registrations are in southeast neighborhoods of Bridgewater, Brookside and Oak Manor. Golf carts also are popular in Chatham Hills and registrations are increasing in Viking Meadows and south of 161st Street.
“Our existing city ordinance, which is almost 14 years old now, is outdated and prevents residents from fully utilizing golf carts to reach parks, schools, restaurants and businesses throughout the community,” Jordan said. “Basically, we have (an old) ordinance. It hasn’t kept up with the times.”
Jordan said planning has moved to brainstorming priority-based ideas and actions which would result in an updated ordinance and expanded golf cart accessibility in key areas across the city.
The first step is creating working groups to participate in discussions that include elected officials, city staff and community members.
“Almost every city department would be involved in this initiative,” Jordan said. “Importantly, it involves community members. Not just golf cart owners; all residents, because the ordinance would impact everyone.”
Jordan said input from the community is a key component to moving forward.
“We want to conduct a listening tour throughout the city. Listen to concerns that residents have. Try to understand the gaps that maybe we’re missing on the existing trail and multitrail path system and identify any safety issues that are brought up,” he said. “Once we do that, we really need to rewrite the ordinance. That involves everyone. It’s not a police initiative, but we would provide input.”
City officials also are planning a trip this fall to Peachtree City, Ga., just south of Atlanta.
“In the late 1950s, they created a golf cart community,” Jordan said. “Today, they have 38,000 residents, 13,000 households with 11,000 golf cart registrations. Their high school has 600 golf cart parking spots. We want to visit. We want to learn more about the challenges they’ve had. What’s worked and what hasn’t.”
Jordan said Peachtree City utilizes an app and other technology to keep residents up to date on their golf cart policy.
“They also have a mapping program, so that’s something we’ll look into as well,” he said.
City officials agreed that the public plays an important role in the process.
“We want to get people from all corners of the city involved and a reasonable number that we can actually get something done,” Willis said.
Councilor Kurt Wanninger echoed the sentiment.
“I look forward to going through this process and getting community engagement; that will be important,” Wanninger said. “(The ordinance) is outdated and needs some improvements to it. I think it would have some good benefits to our community; it’s just how it’s going to be structured in the end.”
The process of updating the ordinance ultimately falls on the council.
“An important part of this will be to educate and inform the public,” Jordan said. “Right now, we have a lot of people in the south-central portion of the city who aren’t fully familiar with the ordinance. A lot of these wider perimeter paths are already being used. We really just want to catch up to what people are actually doing. Part of the education would talk about the enforcement provisions; the registration and golf cart requirements; and the rules of the road.”
RIDING AROUND THE CITY
Expanding golf cart access throughout Westfield involves more than simply updating the city’s ordinance.
Westfield Police Department Assistant Chief Scott Jordan said an area that needs to be addressed is connectivity.
“We already have a large number of wider asphalt perimeter paths,” he said. “Most of our east-west roads have these wider paths and some of our north-south roads have them. Our trail system is underutilized.”
Jordan also said the planning process will involve updating the registration process to make it more efficient for residents and the WPD.
The existing ordinance requires golf carts to be registered with the WPD and equipped with headlights, taillights and turn signals. Golf cart operators must be at least 16 years of age, possess a valid driver’s license and carry insurance.
Since golf carts do not have speedometers, they are only permitted on roads where the speed limit is 25 mph or less. Jordan said that rule essentially means golf carts are only permissible in neighborhoods or on approved trails.
Jordan estimated there are between 100 and 200 golf carts that are not properly registered with the city.
Read the text of the golf cart ordinance at westfield.in.gov/egov/documents/1543520378_43272.pdf.
