Del Mar City Council members will consider an ordinance during their July 7 meeting to regulate bicycles and e-bikes on city streets, similar to ordinances already passed by neighboring cities including Solana Beach and Encinitas.
Over the past few months, the council has gone back and forth over how strict of a ban they wanted to impose on sidewalk riding. After initially considering an ordinance that would ban riding on sidewalks in business areas, council members asked for more of a complete ban throughout the city, with certain exceptions.
But during a recent meeting, the council decided it wanted more uniformity with the regulations already in place along the North Coastal corridor in Solana Beach and Encinitas.
“If the rules were different in San Diego, Encinitas, Solana Beach, it’s just hard to keep track of all that,” Mayor Terry Gaasterland said during the council’s June 20 meeting. “I do think it’s a serious mistake for us to have rules that differ from our neighboring cities.”
Del Mar had learned that Solana Beach and Encinitas banned riding on sidewalks in business districts but allow it elsewhere to accommodate children and beginner riders. The Del Mar ordinance will also ban sidewalk riding in business areas, in addition to the Powerhouse Park area.
According to an agenda report, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, which serves Encinitas, Solana Beach and Del Mar, “supports consistent enforcement across the North Coastal Sheriff’s Station cities.”
The new regulations include a diversion program that refers first-time violators to an online safety course.
The new local laws regulating e-bikes and bicycles have been approved over the last few years in response to the increased popularity of e-bikes, as well as injuries and a few fatalities on North Coastal roads.