BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2073|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2073
Author: Holden (D)
Introduced:2/17/16
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 11-0, 6/14/16
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,
McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/7/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Golf carts: City of La Verne
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill allows for the use of oversized golf carts as
part of the City of La Verne's golf cart transportation plan.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Defines "golf carts" as motor vehicles weighing less than
1,300 pounds, designed to operate at not more than 25 miles
per hour, and designed to carry not more than two persons.
2)Authorizes cities or counties to adopt golf cart
transportation plans that do not include the use of any state
highway. A crossing of, or a golf cart lane along, a state
highway may be included in the plan if authorized by the law
enforcement agency having primary traffic enforcement
responsibility.
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3)Specifies certain required elements in the golf cart
transportation plan, including minimum general design criteria
for the development, planning, and construction of separated
golf cart lanes.
4)Exempts the City of La Verne from the requirement for
separated golf cart lanes under specified conditions.
This bill expands the definition of "golf cart" in the City of
La Verne to include utility-style golf carts and shuttle-style
golf carts for use within the area included in their golf cart
transportation plan.
Background
History of La Verne and golf carts. Founded in 1887, La Verne
is in the foothills of the San Gabriel-Pomona valleys. La Verne
is approximately 35 miles east of Los Angeles in Los Angeles
County. La Verne is a small city of 33,000 covering 8.5 square
miles. It has eight mobile home parks, three large retirement
communities, and a university of about 2,500 students.
Golf carts have been authorized for use on certain city streets
in La Verne since 2009. The original authorizing legislation
sunset on January 1, 2016; this was intended to allow time for
the university and retirement communities to transition to safer
vehicles which meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Because of the historic use of golf carts by the retirement
communities and the university, La Verne was exempted from the
requirement to have separate golf cart lanes. However, La Verne
was still required to develop a golf cart transportation plan
and subject to several additional safety restrictions,
including:
1)Limiting the golf carts to streets with speed limits of not
more than 25 miles per hour.
2)Limiting the golf carts to streets immediately adjacent to or
surrounded by the university or a retirement community.
3)Requiring the law enforcement agency with primary traffic
jurisdiction to approve the street segments.
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4)Limiting the authority to golf carts owned by the university
or retirement community and equipped with a windshield,
headlights, brake lights, and seatbelts.
5)Limiting the golf cart usage to employees of the university or
retirement community within the scope of employment of the
university or retirement community.
In 2015, the sunset was eliminated in AB 173 (Holden, Chapter
65, Statutes of 2015), allowing La Verne to permanently permit
the use of golf carts, a change in the policy articulated in the
original legislation.
This bill revises the definition of "golf cart" for purposes of
La Verne by authorizing the use of vehicles which are larger and
heavier than the typical two-person golf cart. These include
vehicles which can transport as many as eight people, as well as
larger flatbed vehicles. While these vehicles have apparently
been used for years, this bill legitimizes their use.
Recent experience indicates no problems. The La Verne Police
Chief indicates there have been no issues with these vehicles.
As these vehicles wear out, he expects that they will be
replaced with larger street-legal neighborhood electric
vehicles.
Comments
Purpose. The author seeks to revise his bill from last year,
which eliminated the sunset on La Verne's authority to permit
golf carts on specified city streets under specified conditions,
by expanding the definition of "golf cart" to include larger
vehicles. This would allow the continued use of oversized golf
cart-like vehicles, according to the author.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/17/16)
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Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities
City of LaVerne Police Department
Hillcrest
University of LaVerne
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/17/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/7/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow,
Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Levine
Prepared by:Randy Chinn / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
6/17/16 15:03:37
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