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Segway Tours gets first OK from Delray commissioners

Sue Tauriello of the Delray Chamber gets a quick lesson in operating a Segway during Segway Tours of Delray Beach's grand opening last fall.

By David Sedore, Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — Delray Beach city commissioners on Tuesday pass first reading of an ordinance making Segway operations legal in the city and regulating their use.

The only point of contention between the firm that proposed the ordinance, Segway Tours of Delray Beach, and the city is the use of the machines along A1A. Final reading of the ordinance is set for April 5.

The issue arose last fall when Segway Tours held a grand opening only to find out later that the city code had no provisions allowing its owners to operate the business. The company proposed the ordinance and worked with city staff to draft some regulations on how Segways, the two-wheeled electric-powered vehicle that looks vaguely like a cross between an old fashioned lawn mower and a pogo stick.

On most points, the two sides were able to come to an agreement. Segways, for example will be banned on Atlantic Avenue through the downtown because of the high volume of traffic and pedestrians.

But the one exception was operations along A1A, where the city wants them banned on the sidewalks on the beach side of the two-lane road and on the west side on either side near the intersection with Atlantic Avenue.

“An unsafe situation would be created on the one side where you have a lot of competing traffic,” city Planning and Zoning Director Paul Dorling said.

But attorney Michael Listick of Listick & Krall, representing Segway Tours, asked for more liberal access in the beach area. He did not present arguments, preferring to wait until the April 5 meeting and public hearing on the proposed ordinance, but said the devices can be operated safely.

Andy Katz of the Beach Property Owners Association, said his organization is split on whether to allow full access to the sidewalks but agrees that more emphasis should be placed on safety, including establishing and enforcing a reasonable speed limit, use of bike lanes as much as possible and that devices run in single file especially during guided tours.

Commissioners agreed.

“It’s something new; it’s something different, but safety still trumps everything,” Commissioner Gary Eliopoulos said. “I support this use, but this is something we should look at.”

Adam Frankel proposed a few other safety rules, including more training before customers are allowed to operate a Segway, brightly colored helmets and vests for riders to increase visibility and, picking up on Katz’s idea, restrict their use to bike lanes as much as possible.

Mayor Woodie McDuffie agreed with the ideas but said it will be up to Segway Tours and other operators to ensure that the devices are used safely since it is in their interests that they are.

“You can abuse any method of transportation,” McDuffie said. “We’re not going to be able to enforce the any rules and regulations 100 percent unless we have police on every corner.”

Segway Tours offers guide tours of the city as well as renting and selling Segways.

Also Tuesday, city commissioners:

— OKed first reading creating a “medical arts overlay district” for an area immediately south of Linton Boulevard along Military Trail. The new district allows inpatient detoxification facilities, and is made up mostly by the Delray Medical Center campus on the west side and includes the South County Mental Health Center on east side.

Planning and Zoning Director Dorling said the ordinance and several other related ordinances also passed on first reading Tuesday bring the city code into compliance with recent court rulings.

— Repealed an ordinance calling for a public vote on a charter amendment changing the terms in office for the mayor and commissioners from two years to three years. The vote was to be held earlier this month during the municipal election but was canceled when there were no contested commission races to accompany the measure on the ballot.

— Approved first reading of a zoning change that would allow Presidential Auto Leasing and Sales on South Federal Highway to use an adjacent parcel as a parking lot. Staff recommended against the ordinance, say it intruded into a residential neighborhood. A public hearing will be held on April 5.

 

 

 

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