Elburn considers becoming a golf car community

Elburn resident Melissa Bollivar attended the Nov. 4 Committee of the Whole meeting to give the board a petition for the village to become a golf car community. Bollivar had gone door-to-door throughout the village from Blackberry Creek and Elburn Station on the south of town to Fox Pointe Subdivision on the north. She talked to residents of 400 households and gathered 582 signatures.

Elburn’s Main Street Golf Cars owner Beth Simmons, who had spent some time helping Bollivar obtain the signatures, explained how the village could incorporate golf cars into the community, what some of the state statutes were, and recommended several additional restrictions to impose.

State statutes include requirements such as having a driver’s license and insurance, headlights and taillights, an age limit of 16 years old, prohibiting driving on state and county roads and those with speed limits of more than 35 miles per hour.

Simmons said that golf cars are great for seniors and people with disabilities, who often have trouble getting up and into cars. She said it could be a good thing for the entire village.

“It can bring the community together,” she said. “It’s easier to get around and it’s eco-friendly, especially with the electric golf cars.”

Simmons explained the use of the term golf cars rather than golf carts in that one pushes or pulls a golf cart to carry their golf clubs and one drives a golf car.

Bollivar said she grew up on a farm and had lived in two golf car communities prior to moving to Elburn. She said having that casual way of getting around encouraged people to get outside to take the kids around the neighborhood or just to meet their neighbors.

She and her husband have two children, a 7-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy, who play softball and baseball. She said she envisions people taking their kids to the ball fields or to the ponds to fish, or just to visit some friends on the other side of the neighborhood.

“Just getting out into the fresh air, feeling the sun on your face, and the wind in your hair, smelling the flowers in the spring - it makes people friendlier, and it makes them happy,” she said.

Bollivar said she met a woman with disabilities while knocking on doors. The woman told her that she has a hard time getting around and has to wait for her husband to take her down the road to get the mail. She said having a golf car would be a great way to help her become more independent and to meet more of her neighbors.

When asked if he was surprised that there were so many people that had signed the petition, Police Chief Nick Sikora said that they all were surprised.

Sikora was initially not in favor of the idea, but he said he was impressed that Bollivar was able to get so much support for it. He has done some research on his own, gathering sample ordinances from other golf car communities and talking with their police chiefs, including for Maple Park and Pingree Grove. He said there are about a half dozen of these communities in the area.

Sikora said he wants to meet with Main Street Golf Cars owner Bob Simmons and hopes to have something for the board to review and discuss at the Dec. 16 Committee of the Whole meeting. He said it would be ultimately a board decision.

Village President Jeff Walter said he was looking forward to “figuring out how do we do it?” What makes the most sense; for example, what to do about allowing people to cross a road in a golf car?

He said that there are definitely some advantages; first of all, just the operating cost compared to a car, or you want to run over to Alice’s for an ice cream cone, or just to go see your neighbor and you don’t want to walk, or you can’t walk.

“There are a lot of safety concerns, obviously,” Walter said. “It’s a very interesting question. I’m anxious to hear what the board has to say.”

“What I found that was very impressive about the group is they were very pro-restrictions and pro-enforcement,” Walter said. “They didn’t want some people to ruin it for everyone else. They’ve given it a lot of thought, for sure.”