Gulf Shores City Council approved two ordinances regulating e-bike usage and rentals at its Monday, Jan. 26 regular meeting following an hour-long discussion at last week's meeting.

There was only one notable change in one of the ordinance proposals Gulf Shores Chief of Police Dan Netemeyer presented at the Jan. 19 meeting.

General use regulations will not change. In the rental ordinance, the provision allowing Class 2 e-bikes to be rented if the throttle is disabled has been removed. Only Class 1 e-bikes can be rented within city limits, with an exception for Class 2 e-bikes if an ADA compliant vehicle is required.

Regulations for general use mostly surround safe and non-modified operation of e-bikes, while regulations for rental companies require proper safety equipment be provided and specify the types of bikes that can and cannot be rented. Some parts of the ordinances are city-specific, but other operation requirements reinforce what is already in place as state law, Netemeyer said.

“We don’t want anyone else to die and we want to limit the injuries the best that we can and, overall, I believe this is the best way,” Netemeyer said at the Jan. 26 meeting.

The ordinance on the general usage was approved with one nay from Councilman Steve Jones. Before the vote, he suggested the proposed 10-mph limit be raised to 15 mph, but this was not changed before approval.

The ordinance on rental services was unanimously approved by Council.

Though immediately approved, both ordinances are set to go into effect March 1, allowing rental businesses and the city to adjust.

Mayor Robert Craft said the city will continue to work with the community as new products are released.

“This is not unlike technology and it’s changing quickly,” he said. “… Technology is going faster than the law.”

In the original proposal, a dismount zone was suggested to stretch along Hwy. 59, but this has been removed from the most recent proposal. However, the ordinances do allow council to implement a dismount zone if deemed necessary.

Three rental company owners and three residents spoke at the Jan. 19 meeting when the newest proposal was presented.

Rental company owners agreed that many businesses already comply with the proposed rules.

Owners were concerned about another part of the ordinance where e-bikes are required to have pedal-assist features only and throttles must remain non-operational. One owner asked the council why throttles would be allowed on privately owned e-bikes but not rentals.

“The proposal to remove throttles from e-bikes is an extreme response aimed at stopping a small number of juveniles from riding too fast, but does not actually accomplish that goal,” said Polly Kristich, owner of Gulf Shores Bike Rentals.

Another rental company owner, who did not say his name, asked why the city did not perform a study to confirm rental e-bikers are the ones behind reckless operation.

“It’s important to us that they don’t come back with blood on them, but even if they come back with a little blood on them, they still say, ‘I had a blast,’ and that’s what’s important. We’re in the tourism business,” he said. “… It’s an enforcement problem; it’s not a rental problem. It’s not rental bikes; it’s personal bikes.”

At the end of the discussion, Gary Phelps, Gulf Shores resident and retired St. Louis police officer, spoke on his experience with vehicular homicides. He said Netemeyer gave an “excellent presentation based on facts.”

"When you reach down and you pick up that pile of goo that used to be somebody's brains because they interceded with a 350-pound vehicle and they're deader than a doornail, well maybe the chief can invite everybody over here to take a look at the deceased on the road,” he said. “It's an ugly sight, and I would certainly heed the chief's recommendation."

Phelps along with other residents spoke on several instances where they have been driving down Hwy. 59 or Fort Morgan Road, going 30-40 mph, and looked up and noticed e-bikes passing them. Most of the e-bike riders appear to be juveniles, they said.

Netemeyer said educating younger riders will be a big part of the new ordinance and that he’s already been speaking with Gulf Shores City Schools Superintendent Matt Akin on organizing e-bike education events.

Craft said the city will have to work to educate kids with help from parents.

The discussion surrounding e-bikes lasted over an hour before Craft said council needed to be able to get to the six other things left on the agenda. By that point, the meeting had already lasted over two hours.