CAPE CHARLES, Va. — In response to increasing complaints about motorized conveyances on congested sidewalks, the Town of Cape Charles is set to adopt an ordinance prohibiting the use of motorized vehicles on sidewalks in key areas. This move follows authorization provided by Section 46.2-904 of the Code of Virginia, which allows towns to restrict such activities. The new ordinance will be reviewed and voted on at the next Regular Meeting on June 20th.
Complaints have centered around sidewalks on Mason Avenue, Strawberry Street Plaza, Central Park, and the Bay Avenue boardwalk. These areas often experience significant pedestrian traffic, making the presence of motorized skateboards, scooters, and similar devices particularly problematic.
In February 2022, the Town Council adopted an ordinance prohibiting the operation of bicycles, motorized skateboards, and similar devices in the central business district, specifically on the north and south sides of Mason Avenue and on Strawberry Street Plaza. These provisions have been codified in Section 28-7 of the Town Code.
The enforcement of this prohibition requires the installation of signage compliant with the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and approved under a Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Land Use Permit (LUP). Although the necessary signs and break-away poles were procured, the signs were not installed, and the initial LUP has since expired. The Public Works Department is now ready to renew the LUP and install the signs on Mason Avenue and Strawberry Street Plaza.
Central Park, owned by the Town and not located in the VDOT right-of-way, has existing signage prohibiting motor vehicles, including golf carts, as part of the Community Trail funded by Federal Transportation Alternatives Program grants. However, motorized skateboards and similar devices are not classified as motor vehicles under the Code of Virginia. To legally prohibit these devices in Central Park, the Town Council must adopt an ordinance amending the Town Code. The prohibition would then be enforceable, and appropriate signage could be installed at the park’s entrances.
The Bay Avenue boardwalk, which is part of the Community Trail and located within the VDOT right-of-way, would require a similar ordinance and MUTCD-compliant signage to enforce a prohibition on motorized devices. A new VDOT LUP would also be needed.
The Town Council aims to balance the needs of pedestrians with those of non-motorized vehicle users, such as cyclists, by tailoring the ordinance appropriately. Residents and visitors can expect clearer regulations and improved safety on Cape Charles’ sidewalks and public areas.
For more information, residents can contact the Town’s Public Works Department or visit the Town’s website.
No mention of golf carts on the sidewalks.
Sweet.
GOLFCARTS RULE!
Only if driven by a tourist!
Lets gather together and find MORE things to complain about, MORE issues to “fix”. We especially need MORE ways to spend money (on signs, etc, which really need to be written in several languages AND painted in non offensive rainbow colors).
Scotiagirl wonders where this will end…
It probably won’t.
Why should it?
What incentive is for there to be change?
Cape Charles has staked its future on being a tourist town, just as Lake George, Ny is a tourist town, and Wildwood, New Jersey, so now, Cape Charles has to find some way to deal with the tourists it has made a conscious effort to rely upon for its future.
Should it be a town where tourists can come to careen around in golf carts and ride their motorized skateboards, scooters, and similar devices on the sidewalks on Mason Avenue, Strawberry Street Plaza, Central Park, and the Bay Avenue boardwalk, which areas often experience significant pedestrian traffic, making the presence of motorized skateboards, scooters, and similar devices particularly problematic?
Or should the town create a special pedestrian-free lane on the sidewalks for those riding motorized skateboards, scooters, and similar devices?
Given that this is a DEMOCRACY in Cape Charles thanks to Joe Biden, the only people who really can answer that question are the people of Cape Charles, but experience says that in a tourist town, where the town has to rely on tourist dollars so it don’t otherwise become a ghost town, it is the tourists who need to be accommodated to.
So which tourists will that be?
What you don’t understand is more signs equals more money for 1 councilman.
Won’t this ordinance violate the rights of disabled persons who are not available and have the motorized wheel chairs? That would be my concern.
Perhaps the disabled folks could drive golfcarts on the sidewalks.
That way, no worries, just a potential interaction now and then.