Overland Park plans to permanently allow e-mobility devices, like e-bikes and electric scooters, on its city trails. On Monday, the Overland Park City Council Community Development Committee voted 4-0 to recommend approval of the new ordinance and the repeal of an existing one prohibiting motorized devices and vehicles on trails. “To me, this kind of seems like something that’s coming to us whether we like it or not,” Councilmember Logan Heley, who chairs the committee, said. “They’re probably going to use the trails whether we say it’s OK or not.” Former Councilmembers Scott Hamblin and Fred Spears previously sat on this committee, but their terms have expired and the mayor has yet to fill their seats on the committee. The proposed ordinance formalizes two pilot programs that allowed e-bikes and scooters on city bike and hiking trails. The initial pilot program, which started in 2020, permitted some e-bikes on Overland Park trails. About a year and a half later, the city expanded the pilot to include more types of e-bikes and scooters. Mike Burton, park project coordinator for Overland Park, told the committee this week that allowing e-bikes and scooters on the trails was met with mixed reviews from the community, though the feedback leaned positive overall.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post
