Hebron Village Board says no to golf carts

Several towns in McHenry County allow residents to operate, with annual inspections and registration, their golf carts on some municipal streets.

Hebron, which has never allowed golf carts, ATVs or non-highway vehicles on village roads, updated its ordinance this week to spell out that to residents.

“On a personal level I enjoy ATVs and golf carts,” Trustee Candace Knaack said prior to the 5-0 vote.

People using them on village streets has been a “reoccurring problem” for people pushing strollers and riding bicycles, Knaack said.

“We need to calm some of that down and make people aware of that ... make sure our public is safe on the streets,” she said.

The village code already referred to Illinois Vehicle Code regarding non-highway vehicles, Village President Robert Shelton said. The new language, rather than referring to the state code, lays out which vehicles are not permitted.

“We need to calm some of that down and make people aware of that ... make sure our public is safe on the streets.”

—  Hebron Trustee Candace Knaack

Residents using those non-permitted vehicles – ATVs, golf carts and dirt bikes – on village roads has become a problem this year, Chief of Police Juanita Gumble said.

“All weekend, my phone is blowing up” with complaints of people driving four-wheelers in the village, Gumble said.

Before becoming Hebron’s chief of police, she was an officer in Lakewood, which does allow golf carts on its streets.

There, golf carts are allowed only on some streets and residents pay $50 for the first registration sticker and $25 a year after that.

“We are not Lakewood,” Gumble said, pointing out that the village sees heavy traffic on Routes 47 and 173 and does not have golf courses like that village does.

It is not just traditional off-road vehicles that have caused problems.

Another call came from a village trustee about a person on an “electronic skateboard” that was weaving in and out of traffic on Route 47, she said. “There is just no common sense with this stuff.”

With bicycles, there are rules about headlights, reflective lights and other safety precautions at night. “They are not taking any of these precautions anymore” with off-road vehicles, she said. “It is like using a cutting tool without safety glasses.”

Banning off-road vehicles on city streets “Is not taking away people’s rights,” Knaack said. “It is a matter of safety for the community.”