Chelsea assistant city solicitor introduces draft to restrict scooter and bicycle sidewalk riding in business districts

Peter Christopher, assistant city solicitor for Chelsea, presented a draft regulation on behalf of Councilor Robinson that would expand the city's bicycle rules to include motorized scooters and allow the Traffic and Parking Commission to designate business-district areas where riders must dismount and walk on sidewalks.

"There are two things that we're really trying to hit on — a crackdown on multiple people riding on the scooters at one time, and also, riding in highly dense areas in business districts specifically," Christopher said as he introduced the proposal and noted similar rules in other municipalities.

Commission members and attendees raised questions about equity, signage and safety. One attendee asked how the rule would affect low-cost commuting; Christopher said riders could dismount and walk on the sidewalk in designated areas and that state regulations governing operation on public ways would still apply. The draft proposes new signage to notify riders where dismounts are required, though Christopher acknowledged there are currently no standardized signs in place.

A commission member identified in the transcript as Speaker 3 objected to a proposed Amendment 9 that would create an enforcement option to require helmets for passengers and riders. "I think wearing a helmet is super important but I think that I would strike that and I think it's an overreach," the member said, and urged the commission to rely on Massachusetts state law requiring helmets for riders 16 and younger.

Commissioners also pressed on enforcement. Christopher said the measure would be enforced by the police and cited "chapter 40 section 21 d" as the relevant statutory authority, while acknowledging enforcement practicality would be a major challenge.

Members discussed how to identify business districts, citing examples such as Cambridge's neighborhood-based descriptions, and asked HNCD (as mentioned in the transcript) to draft candidate boundaries for the commission's consideration.

Unidentified Speaker 3 moved to table the draft regulation pending legal review of the helmet provision, HNCD review of proposed business-district boundaries, and commissioner feedback to be returned at the next meeting; the motion was seconded and carried with verbal 'Aye' votes. No numeric vote tally was provided in the transcript.

Next steps: the commission directed legal staff to review the helmet language, asked HNCD to prepare suggested business-district boundaries, and asked members to submit written comments ahead of the next meeting.