Gas golf carts aren’t an endangered species in Peachtree City after all.
On a unanimous vote Thursday night, the City Council unanimously voted to sack an ordinance amendment that would have banned gas golf carts from being operated on the city’s paths within 10 years.
Although the vote was unanimous, both Mayor Don Haddix and Councilman Eric Imker indicated that they supported a ban of gas carts in 10 years, but it was Councilman Doug Sturbaum who changed his mind and effectively prevented the ordinance from being adopted as he joined the thinking of Councilwomen Vanessa Fleisch and Kim Learnard, both of whom opposed the ban.
Fleisch presented a variety of data that showed gas golf carts were not nearly as loud as say a lawn mower or a leaf blower. As for the issue of smell, Learnard said as a long distance runner who uses the paths all the time, she doesn’t like the smell of gas carts, but she was willing to live with it.
Sturbaum said he understood the argument that some were making about the importance of allowing residents to make their own choice about the type of golf cart they purchase. He also said he had concerns about the enforceability of the ordinance as written.
Imker suggested tossing the ordinance aside and simply adding a sentence that enacts a full ban on gas carts as of Jan. 1, 2021, with the understanding that the city had ample time to warn residents particularly as they come to City Hall this year to get their new golf cart decal, a process that occurs every five years. But the idea failed to gain traction.
