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Panama City holds first reading to expand golf-cart districts and require child restraints
Summary
City commissioners heard the first reading of Ordinance 32-65 to add several neighborhoods to the golf-cart-friendly map and to require child safety restraints for children 5 and younger; the measure will return for a second reading and final vote.
Panama City commissioners held the first reading May 13 of Ordinance 32-65, which would expand the city's golf-cart-friendly neighborhoods to include Candlewick, Glenwood, Forest Park, Lake Huntington, Liberty Subdivision and Downtown North and add a requirement that children 5 years of age and younger be restrained in golf carts.
The ordinance matters because it changes where non-street-legal golf carts may operate under the city code and adds a safety requirement drawn to align with state law. The proposed map would allow golf carts to travel on residential streets inside the listed neighborhoods but not on or across FDOT-maintained roads unless FDOT grants permission for crossings.
City staff told commissioners the police chief reviewed local streets and concluded they meet safety factors needed to allow golf carts. Staff also circulated a small amendment for the first reading that would add the child-restraint requirement after police raised concerns that very small children had been observed being held in laps on carts. City staff said initial enforcement would emphasize education; if adopted at second reading, violations could be treated as municipal infractions rather than immediate felony child-endangerment charges in borderline cases.
During public comment a resident urged marked crossing points for golf-cart traffic, saying carts crossing unmarked streets could cause conflicts with vehicles. Staff responded that if the ordinance is adopted staff will work with the sign shop and logistics team to place appropriate signage clarifying limits and crossing locations.
This was a first reading only; the ordinance will return at the commission's second reading for a final vote. If the city seeks to allow golf carts to cross FDOT roadways (US-98, Business 98/US 90 and Beck Avenue), staff said a separate traffic study and FDOT permission will be required.
