BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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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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