Cape Coral discusses uniform rules for golf carts in the city

Golf carts could be prohibited on public roads in the Saratoga Lake Park neighborhood in Cape Coral, where they are currently permitted. It has led to a discussion about golf carts on roads citywide.

Cape Coral City Council is considered a ban to community members using golf carts in that specific neighborhood during its Wednesday meeting and will also consider a citywide update to rules for golf carts on Cape Coral roadways.

A city spokesperson told us this council discussion is ultimately so the city can work toward a consistent golf cart policy in Cape Coral.

The mayor said city council will scrap an ordinance focused on the Saratoga Lake Park neighborhood alone and continue to work toward a uniform, citywide ordinance.

“We had a petition to council for a particular community to have to opportunity to use golf carts, and we felt then as a council, instead of addressing one particular community in the city, that it would be better to adopt some type of a ordinance that would cover the entire city.” Cape Coral Mayor John Gunter said. “That way we weren’t peace mealing several different communities, where you may be allowed to do this in one community, but in this other community, you either weren’t allowed or there’s something different.”

“It doesn’t bother me at all, as long as they’re not hooping and hollering and carrying on, which they don’t,” Ken Detwiler said. “It’s kids being kids.”

Detwiler does not want to see golf cart privileges taken away.

“It’s just the freedom,” Detwiler said. “If a person is a little bit handicap and if they want to get into their golf cart and they want to go down a block or two to see their friends or they want to go down to the park, I don’t see a problem with that.”

Detwiler said he’s all for golf carts, but only in neighborhoods.

“As far as public roads go, the street’s a public road, but the street is not Santa Barbara, and it’s not Pine Island, and it’s not Hancock Bridge Parkway,” Detwiler said.

This is a developing story.