Huntley Village Board split on allowing golf carts to be driven throughout town

After a lengthy discussion Thursday, a split village board in Huntley decided not to move forward with allowing golf carts to be driven throughout town.

Village President Timothy Hoeft broke the tie, saying there were too many unknown variables to direct staff to begin drafting up a plan.

“It doesn’t mean it can’t get brought up again,” he said. “But at this time I think there’s too many unanswered questions.”

Currently, the village’s code does not allow for golf carts to be driven on village roads, but does allow them on roads within both Del Webb’s Sun City and streets within the Regency Square development, Village Administrator David Johnson said.

Those allowances were part of the original plans of development for those respective areas, Johnson said. Sun City is also close to a golf course.

While the board was split on the idea, it received a little more support from some trustees once it was pitched to keep the carts inside of residents’ respective subdivisions.

But that caveat, which brought up questions of major roads within individual subdivisions, such as Founders Field Boulevard in the Talamore subdivision, or Haligus Road on the east side of town, still created unknowns, trustees said.

Three trustees said they were supportive of the idea. Trustee Niko Kanakaris said he was “100%” in favor of it, while Trustee JR Westberg said he was fine with it, but cautioned people to be safe. Trustee Curt Kittel was tentatively in favor, but said he wanted to learn more.

“Scooters go faster, skateboards go faster, electric bikes go faster,” Kanakaris said. “I’m 100% in support of it.”

Those opposed included Trustees Mary Holzkopf and Ronda Goldman, who both said there were too many issues, including questions on inspections and police’s ability to enforce any rules.

Concerns about the village’s potential liability were also brought up by Kittel and Hoeft. Westberg to this point said he didn’t feel it was the city’s job to govern people on this topic, adding it’s the resident’s job to stay safe.

“With our village, the way it’s set up now, I don’t think that it’s the smartest thing,” Holzkopf said.

Four residents spoke on the item Thursday, each supporting golf carts. Dan Scarpelli, along with others, said children in the area ride things like hoverboards, which go faster than golf carts.

Golf carts would also not damage the road as much as cars, he said.

“I’m just looking for something as a community for us to get around without getting in our cars,” Scarpelli said.

Resident Andy Sylthe said having golf carts would be great to take kids to the pool or park.

“I’m all for having golf carts,” Sylthe said. “I know there’s a lot of people in this community that would love to have golf carts.”

If some type of policy was passed eventually, golf carts would still not be allowed on Algonquin Road, which is controlled by McHenry County, and Route 47, which is controlled by the state. They would also be subject to similar rules for cars, such as requiring a license to drive.

Currently, McHenry, Johnsburg and Fox River Grove allow golf carts in some capacity, Johnson said. McHenry passed a policy for it in 2020, while Fox River Grove approved its policy in 2015. Johnsburg considered its policy as far back as 2013.