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Council debates tighter downtown rules for electric scooters and bikes
Summary
Council discussed revising Chapter 64 to ban bicycles, electric bikes and scooters from sidewalks and municipal parking lots in the downtown business district with staged penalties; no ordinance was adopted at the meeting.
Sunbury City Council discussed proposed changes to local ordinances to restrict bicycles, electric bikes, and scooters from downtown sidewalks, municipal parking lots and portions of Cameron Street.
Council members and the police chief described recurring complaints about high-speed scooters riding on sidewalks in the business district and a past enforcement period in which hundreds of bikes were confiscated. A councilmember proposed repealing and replacing Chapter 64 with a simpler ordinance that would bar sidewalk riding downtown, impose a first-offense written warning plus 30-day confiscation, a second-offense minimum $100 fine plus 60-day confiscation, and a third-offense minimum $300 fine and permanent confiscation. The proposed text also required notice to a parent or guardian for juvenile offenders.
Council members discussed enforcement logistics, signage, and the need to notify the public before an enforcement sweep. The police chief and other members said enforcement would be selective and would require coordination with department staff to post signs at business-district entrances and to run education and publicity campaigns. Members also raised concerns that banning sidewalk use could push riders into traffic lanes, creating different safety risks.
No final ordinance was adopted during the meeting; councilmembers directed staff and the police department to draft specific ordinance language, consider signage and enforcement plans, and return the proposal for a future meeting if the council wishes to proceed.
