HOLMES BEACH – As commissioners are considering instituting new safety measures for golf carts and low-speed vehicles in the city, a new requirement to register golf carts with the city is also being talked about.
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer brought up the subject during a speed limit discussion at a Feb. 8 commission meeting. Tokajer said that requiring golf carts to be registered through the city would ensure that the vehicles have the safety equipment required by the city and that they are being used solely by residents. A part of the proposed registration requirement would be that golf cart owners would have to be homesteaded residents of Holmes Beach, preventing the vehicles from being purchased by rental owners for the use of vacationers.
The difference between a golf cart and a low-speed vehicle, or LSV, is that a golf cart travels at a slower speed than an LSV and is not required to be registered with the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles. Holmes Beach is the only Anna Maria Island city where golf carts are allowed to be driven, which creates a legal issue if they were to be used by vacationers who likely would not know that the vehicles couldn’t be driven legally in Anna Maria or Bradenton Beach, or where the city boundaries are located.
Holmes Beach allows the use of golf carts in the city primarily due to the Key Royale Golf Club being located within the city.
While Tokajer acknowledged that golf carts are generally used primarily by residents of the Island city, he said that there are some golf cart rental companies that conduct business online that could try to rent them in Holmes Beach. He also said that the requirement for proof of a homesteaded property would prevent others from providing them for rentals in the city.
For the registration, Tokajer suggested that owners have to register the golf carts with the city once per year and receive a sticker to put on the carts which would alert police that the operator is a Holmes Beach resident. He said it would also give officers the opportunity to check and make sure that the golf carts are equipped with required safety equipment including a windscreen and seat belts for each passenger.
Anyone found operating a golf cart – not an LSV – in the city without the sticker would be subject to being stopped and potentially fined by police.
The conversation is expected to continue at an upcoming city commission meeting.
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