A new ordinance approved by the Winthrop Town Council last week would prohibit the use of motorized scooters and e-bikes in the town’s parks.
The prohibition is scheduled to go into effect on Sept. 1, giving the town time to finalize language for signs that will be purchased alerting residents to the new policy in the parks.
Councilor-at-Large Kurt Millar said the ordinance came out of the charter and ordinance review committee with input from the police department.
“The intent of the ordinance is to protect public safety, preserve parkland and natural resources, and maintain the intended passive recreational use of town parks and natural surface trails,” said Millar. “In summary, what this is going to be doing is prohibiting electric e-bikes and motorized scooters from natural surface trails, parkland, and sidewalks.”
Millar said the ordinance review committee did get feedback from the public to have the ordinance include language regarding protective equipment.
“This also goes in conjunction with Mass General Laws,” said Millar. “We see across town that there are safety risks at parks with e-bikes and scooters, and this is how this ordinance came to be written and proposed.”
The ordinance does not prohibit any ADA-compliant vehicles, and the town manager or parks and recreation department can also permit certain vehicles to be operated on parklands if necessary.
“That’s the higher level of intent on this, it is the safety and to ensure that we are not destroying our parkland and that it is preserved and utilized,” said Millar.