Golf carts won’t be allowed on side streets in far south suburban Crete for the foreseeable future.
The Crete Village Board voted 5-2 Monday against an ordinance that would allow for golf carts to be driven on side streets throughout most of the village.
Trustee John Phelan authored the ordinance, and voted in favor of it Monday. He had researched other local golf cart ordinances and talked to officials in nearby towns of Peotone, New Lenox, Manteno, Monee and Beecher, which allow golf carts on side streets.
“It’s a shame it could work in other towns but not in ours,” Phelan said after the vote.
The proposed ordinance would have required golf carts to have safety features, like seatbelts and turn signals, and required the driver to have a valid driver’s license.
Under the proposed ordinance, the small motorized vehicles would not have been permitted to cross any toll road or interstate highway. They would have only been able to cross a state or county highway if the driver could safely make a 90 degree turn at a stop sign, and only cross at an intersection on a street with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour or less.
The proposed ordinance would have also required owners to register their golf carts, which would have required proof of insurance, with the village for a $25 fee.
Any golf cart driver who violated any part of the proposed ordinance would have been fined $100.
Phelan said the ordinance the board voted on Monday was a revised one that removed the golf cart inspection portion under the registration process.
The inspection would have occurred throughout the year as people bought and registered their golf carts, which would create a lot of work for village staff, Phelan said.
Trustee Stephen Johnson said he did not support an ordinance that didn’t require inspections.
On the flipside, Trustee Steve Bruns, who voted in favor of the ordinance, said he would not support an ordinance that did call for inspections because it would create too much work for village staff.
Mayor Michael Einhorn said an inspection would show that the village was monitoring the golf carts.
“The inspection sends a message that you’re watching. You have no inspections, it’s like here’s a ticket to the free for all,” Einhorn said.
Police Chief Scott Pieritz agreed with Johnson.
Pieritz, who lives in Manteno, said he saw two teenagers in his hometown riding a dune buggy that had a village- issued golf cart sticker.
“I think it would be problematic because if we’re not seeing these vehicles, what are the people registering?” Pieritz said.
In a letter to the board, Pieritz expressed his opposition to the ordinance based on public safety concerns, including golf cart drivers speeding, driving recklessly and driving drunk.
Pieritz also said that the proposed ordinance would not have allowed golf cart drivers to safely cross over Main Street. Additionally, Burville Road, Fifth, Linden, North, Cass and Division streets present safety concerns, and First and Barry streets and Crete Boulevard couldn’t be used by golf carts, he said.
Given the proposed ordinance, people living on Steger Road, Main Street and Route 394 would have golf cart use prohibited on their street, Pieritz said. The ordinance would have also outlawed golf carts in Crete’s downtown area, he said.
Pieritz said the police department would likely see an increase in complaints and workload.
“To put it plainly, we already have enough to handle without taking on this matter,” Pieritz wrote.
Trustee Katrina Seifert said she liked the idea of the ordinance but couldn’t support it, given Pieritz’s analysis of which streets would be dangerous for a golf cart to cross and other safety concerns.
“I absolutely love the idea because I love the idea of community,” Seifert said. “I just think about the risks of all this stuff. The risk doesn’t seem to match the reward.”
akukulka@chicagotribune.com
