Yorba Linda adopts ordinance regulating electric bicycles; council to review enforcement in six months

The Yorba Linda City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance regulating electric bicycles (referenced in the meeting as ordinance 2025-1114) after extended public comment and debate on Oct. 7.

The ordinance sets behavioral rules for operators — including yielding requirements and prohibitions on dangerous conduct — and gives deputies discretionary enforcement tools. Mayor Janice Amanda Lim and councilmembers emphasized education as a first step, but council also asked the police department to enforce infractions where deputies observe violations.

Councilwoman Tara Campbell, who proposed stricter limits on e-bike use on dirt trails at earlier meetings, framed the choice as a safety question: she said it is “really hard to monitor speed on the trails” and urged a clear rule that deputies can apply without complex speed enforcement on unpaved routes. In public comment, riders and residents described incidents in which fast or reckless e-bike operation allegedly spooked horses and put equestrians, pedestrians and small children at risk. One resident said her horses were “terrified” after an e-bike user performed a wheelie on a nearby trail.

Captain Diane Wigton, the chief of police services who briefed council on enforcement, told council that deputies will pursue education and discretionary enforcement but that full trail-centered enforcement would stretch existing resources. “Enforcement is going to be difficult,” she said, adding, “we will do everything in our power to enforce what the council chooses.” She explained deputies can cite observed unsafe operation and use California vehicle code provisions for safe-speed enforcement when appropriate.

Wigton also advised that a prohibition covering roughly 130 miles of unpaved trails would likely require additional personnel if the department were expected to physically patrol and enforce on those trails. Council members were given a staff estimate of about $660,000 to fund two additional deputy sheriff positions if the city chose to dedicate full-time resources to trail enforcement.

After discussion, councilmembers directed staff and police to continue outreach and education — including school and community engagement, reward-based outreach and distribution of safety materials — and asked Captain Wigton to work with the equestrian community and other stakeholders to develop best-practice guidance for trail users. The council requested a six-month status report that would include enforcement statistics and costs; councilmembers said that timing should align with the city’s midyear budget review so fiscal needs could be considered alongside enforcement data.

The ordinance passed unanimously. Council members who voted in favor were Mayor Janice Amanda Lim, Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Rodriguez, Councilwoman Tara Campbell, Councilwoman Peggy Wong and Councilmember Shabinder Singh.

City staff noted that the ordinance includes a catchall prohibition against operating in a manner that “endangers the operator, passengers, other motorists, equestrians or pedestrians,” which deputies may use to address conduct not explicitly enumerated in the code. The council asked staff to circulate a best-practices document for trail users developed with equestrian representatives; adding language to the ordinance itself would require an additional reading and delay the ordinance taking effect.

The council’s motion also included direction for the police to continue the education-first approach, report enforcement outcomes at six months, and return with any recommended ordinance amendments or resource requests to the council during the midyear budget review.