BRADENTON BEACH – The Bradenton Beach City Commission is in the process of enacting a temporary 180-day moratorium on the leasing of micromobility devices that include three-wheeled autocycles and motorized scooters and bicycles.
On Thursday, Oct. 22, the city commission unanimously supported Ordinance 25-24 as presented on first reading. If adopted on second and final reading in early November, the six-month moratorium will take effect retroactively back to Sept. 1.
City Attorney Ricinda Perry said the moratorium is not an attempt to prohibit rented autocycles or other street-legal devices from traveling from other points of the Island into Bradenton Beach.
“We don’t care about them driving on the streets, because that’s something I can’t prohibit under the state statute, but what I can do is prevent the businesses from setting up and creating a point of sale within the city. That is what we’re targeting. We don’t want them stored here. We’re finding these companies are storing their stuff on vacant land or on city property and coming around and collecting it whenever they want. We’re targeting that behavior,” Perry told The Sun on Monday.
With the capability to travel at speeds greater than 20 mph, three-wheeled autocycles are considered street legal in Florida. The state requires autocycles to be licensed, insured and operated by someone who is at least 16 years old and has a valid driver’s license.
During Thursday’s meeting, Mayor John Chappie said he asked Perry to prepare a moratorium ordinance for commission consideration.
Perry then read aloud the title section of the requested ordinance: “An ordinance declaring, establishing and imposing a temporary moratorium on the issuance of any authorizations, permits or franchises pertaining to micromobility hubs, the use of, or the offering for hire of, micromobility devices including but not limited to motorized scooters, motorized bicycles and scoot coupes (auto cycles) within the incorporated area of the city of Bradenton Beach for a period of 180 days in order to allow an opportunity for the city to develop regulations for such uses in the city.”
The ordinance notes Florida Statute 316.003(38) defines a micromobility device as “Any motorized transportation made available for private use by reservation through an online application, website, or software for point-to-point trips and which is not capable of traveling at a speed greater than 20 miles per hour on level ground.”
A clause contained in the ordinance states, “Shared use programs result in micromobility devices being left unattended and parked or leaned on walls or sidewalks, thereby creating a hazard and impediment to accessibility for pedestrians and persons with mobility challenges.”
Another clause says, “The city commission finds and declares a need to temporarily prohibit the offering for hire of motorized scooters and micromobility devices within the city in order to allow for the development of regulations for such uses.”
According to the ordinance, “During the period of this moratorium, the city shall not process or issue any authorizations, permits or franchises, nor shall it process any applications, concerning micromobility hubs/kiosks or the offering for hire of motorized scooters or micromobility devices within the city.”
Perry told the commission the moratorium would prevent the city from issuing a business tax receipt license or allowing someone to seek city approval to open a micromobility leasing business while the moratorium remains in effect.
“We essentially have six months to figure out the regulations and how we want to do this. A lot of jurisdictions have been going through this in the last six to 12 months, including the city of Bradenton. Anna Maria has adopted a moratorium. Holmes Beach is adopting a moratorium. There’s a lot of regulations coming out on this particular topic,” Perry told the commission.
“I’m fine with all this right now. We need to get a handle on it,” Chappie said.
“I agree,” Commissioner Jan Vosburgh said.
