City Council Approves Amended Ordinance Prohibiting Commercially-Owned Motor-Assisted Scooters

Staff Reports

On Tuesday, the San Marcos City Council voted 7-0 to approve an ordinance on the first of two readings that prohibits the use of motor-assisted scooters owned by Commercial Scooter companies.

During the Council work session on April 2, 2019, the City Council (7-0) directed staff to draft a new ordinance prohibiting the use of a motor-assisted scooter in the public right-of-way, including sidewalks and streets.

The highlights of the amended ordinance are as follows:

• Prohibits the placement and use of motor-assisted scooters owned by commercial
• scooter companies on public property, streets, and sidewalks (Fine up to $2,000)
• Prohibits a person from using commercially-owned scooters (Fine up to $50)
• Does not prohibit a person from operating their own motor-assisted scooter
• Does not apply to any city-approved pilot program
• Allows for impoundment of scooters found on public property
• Provides for an impoundment fee of $50 per day for each scooter impounded
• Drafted as a new ordinance for first reading
• Takes effect upon Council passage of second reading (May 19) and publication

The council postponed the ordinance on the second regarding on January 7 in order to consider amending the language to allow for the use of personal motor-assisted scooters.  

Bert Lumbreras, City Manager, said the city would fairly quickly when a company performed an illegal dump of motor-assisted scooters for public use.

“It’s safe to say if that were to happen, we’re not going to apply any penalty to an individual when a scooter company came in and illegally dropped these scooters into town,” Lumbreras said.

Scooter companies can be fined up to $2,000 for “dumping” scooters illegally within the city; the fine applies per event of illegal deployment and not per scooter deployed.

The council voted 7-0 to amend the maximum amount an individual may be fined for using commercially-owned scooters lowering it from $100 to $50.

“I know that we can trust the San Marcos Police Department to issue those warnings, but should something happen…” Councilmember Melissa Derrick said, “And they need to do the fine, I’d be more comfortable with it at 50 dollars.”

The ordinance will return for its second reading on May 19; it will be adopted immediately upon approval.