E-bike ordinance hits snag

Will come back for review in May

An updated ordinance promoting safer electric bicycle usage in Santa Cruz County was delayed this week as county leaders kick the tires and double check for leaks.

After unanimously approving an initial review of the ordinance at its previous meeting in late March, the county Board of Supervisors pivoted Tuesday and rejected final adoption, electing instead to bring the item back for another preliminary read at its May 14 meeting.

The ordinance takes aim at e-bike usage on pedestrian facilities and would make it illegal to ride an ebike on a sidewalk in the county, except where there is no bike lane and no pedestrian present. Language in the original ordinance also would have prohibited e-bike rides on paths in county parks unless the route is a bikeway or if posted signage allows it.

Supervisor Manu Koenig, who brought the original ordinance forward alongside Supervisor Zach Friend, requested the pause after he said he heard concerns from the community, particularly from Ecology Action, an environmental nonprofit involved in bicycle advocation and education locally.

“I believe that we are close with this ordinance but I had heard some concerns from folks — particularly Ecology Action, which does a lot of the bike education and outreach in our community — about the part that relates specifically to parks,” said Koenig.

Koenig explained that Ecology Action was worried the ordinance could hinder some of its education activity and also pointed out that some portions of county parks serve as vital connections within the bicycle network. He wants to make sure county staff has enough time to sit down with Ecology Action to see if and where there is an opportunity to establish some park areas as designated bikeways to exclude them from the ordinance.

He also pushed for a more robust public communication effort so residents are aware, for instance, that the new ordinance would apply to county parks and not state parks where many mountain bike trails are located.

Friend said he doesn't think the delay is necessary and that the ordinance provides enough flexibility and designated authority for County Parks Director Jeff Gaffney to make necessary adjustments after meeting with industry groups, such as Ecology Action.

“To me, the only thing that can happen with these additional discussions would be a watering down of what we're proposing which would, in my opinion, make it less safe in parks and local areas,” said Friend. “I just think it's a slippery slope that the board does something and then opens it up for changes and revisions, you know, immediately because an interest group expresses a concern. I'm just concerned about, just sort of that precedent.”

Hesitant to influence the board's thinking in either direction, Gaffney acknowledged that he thought the ordinance, as written, gave him the tools he needed.

“I do think the authority that was given to us through state statute and through our county ordinance currently as it's written … gives the director the ability to manage this problem,” said Gaffney. “I think that language is clear to me.”

The ordinance update was drafted, as Friend put it, to create a “regulatory structure” for e-bikes locally as the technology continues to soar in popularity while state authorities scramble to draw up safety adjustments of their own. The bicycles can weigh 40-70 pounds and reach speeds that top out at 2028 mph.

Koenig and Friend explained at the board's previous meeting that because e-bikes are defined as personal property — as opposed to vehicles — in state law, the county's authority is limited, so the ordinance proposal is a way to establish some local safety standards.

Koenig's motion to restart the ordinance approval process in May was supported by the other supervisors except for Friend, who pushed for final adoption at the meeting Tuesday.

Adjustments to the newly proposed rules come as an e-bike rental program continues to roll out across Santa Cruz County. The city of Capitola celebrated the launch of 50 e-bikes and 100 docks Tuesday as part of a countywide partnership with BCycle. The city of Santa Cruz established its part of the program last summer and future expansions will unfold across the county throughout the summer.

The BCycle program will ultimately establish about 660 rental e-bikes across the county.