By Glenn Rolfe

MILLSBORO — The contentious issue of legally allowing privately owned golf carts to travel the public streets of Plantation Lakes has hit a roadblock.

On Monday, Millsboro Town Council put the brakes on a request from Plantation Lakes residents seeking a town charter amendment that would empower council to permit golf carts with modifications on town-owned streets in residential subdivisions.

Councilmen Tim Hodges, John Thoroughgood, Larry Gum, Bradley Cordrey and Ron O’Neal and Mayor Michelle Truitt voted for the motion to not proceed with the charter change seeking formal General Assembly approval through liaisons Sen. Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View, and Rep. Rich Collins, R-Millsboro.

“It is very disappointing,” said Plantation Lakes resident Marty Presley, spokesman for those seeking the charter amendment. “All the evidence we presented. All the thousands of other communities that allow the exact same proposal. I think it is very shortsighted and nearsighted.”

Councilman Jim Kells, a Plantation Lakes homeowner and golf cart owner, recused himself from the vote but read a prepared statement.

“This is an opportunity for Millsboro to show why we are No. 1 in Southern Delaware in responsible growth,” he said.

Safety, financial responsibility/liability, speed-limit issues and underage drivers were among the main concerns of town leaders opposing golf carts, capable of speeds of about 18 mph, over low-speed vehicles. LSVs are approved by the Department of Transportation and the Division of Motor Vehicles and street-legal on roadways with speed limits no higher than 35 mph.

“To this point, I am uncomfortable with the safety,” said Councilman Gum, as Councilman Hodges questioned, “So if (LSVs) are legal, why do we need to pass … an ordinance to make something else (legal) that is potentially less safe?”
Mr. Presley replied, “Because the town has let us believe for years that golf carts, No. 1, would be allowed, and No. 2, (LSVs are) exponentially more expensive.”

Longtime debate

In early January, Millsboro officials formally withdrew their 2020 pitch to the General Assembly via Rep. Collins to change the town charter to permit golf carts operated by licensed drivers on certain town-maintained roads in residential subdivisions, most notably Plantation Lakes.

Millsboro’s town solicitor, attorney Mary Schrider-Fox, said the proposal would simply give the town the “authority to pass an ordinance to allow golf carts on streets that have been dedicated to the town and accepted by the town in a residential subdivision. The town would not have the ability to allow golf carts on streets that are either owned (or) controlled by the state or federal government.”

Millsboro Town Manager Sheldon Hudson noted that Plantation Lakes is “the only subdivision where all the streets would potentially become town streets.”
Had council supported the charter-change request and General Assembly approval, the next step would have been fine-tuning the ordinance, Ms. Schrider-Fox said.

The charter amendment did have minimum requirements that would have gone into the ordinance, such as safety brakes, headlamps, tail lamps, other safety features, licensing, registration and/or insurance requirements as Town Council deemed appropriate, she said.

Prior to the council session Monday, Mr. Presley’s golf cart was displayed alongside an LSV outside Millsboro Town Center.

“To the average person coming in the building tonight, I am sure they saw two golf carts, not a golf cart and low-speed vehicle, or an LSV,” said Mr. Presley. “Even if they closely inspected the two, the only difference is the windshield wiper and a full windshield, which can easily be added to the golf cart.”

Golf cart supporters contend that the vehicles can be equipped with safety features like those on LSVs.

However, Millsboro Police Chief Brian Calloway said the main difference is that LSVs are licensed, tagged and registered through the DMV, while golf carts are not.

Chief Calloway cited Delaware law in his stance against the requested charter proposal.

“I think if we really peel back the onion here and get the layers of this to the core, this one sentence is the problem. It says here … ‘Homemade vehicles, all-terrain vehicles and retro-fitted golf carts do not qualify.’ That is the problem here,” he said.

Plantation Lakes’ beginnings

Councilman Thoroughgood recalled earlier days, when Plantation Lakes first purchased the property and how this scenario evolved.

“It was a cornfield … probably the best piece of property in Sussex County,” he said. “Basically, what it was with Plantation Lakes, there was three developers when it started. They were going to have all private; it was going to be like the villas in Florida — movie theater, a mall, lumberyard … to build your houses. It never happened. So the town is stuck between a rock and a hard spot.

“You never did get the mall. You never got the movie theater. You never got the lumberyard,” he continued. “It goes back to the developers. A couple developers went out of the picture. … You’re stuck with (Plantation Lakes developer) Lennar. They stepped up to the plate. When you bought your homes, I don’t know what the Realtor told you.”

Councilman Gum expressed frustration.

“I’m upset we have been drawn in the middle of this. Some years ago, Lennar came and said we want to make them public streets. To my knowledge, no one stepped forward and said, ‘We don’t want public streets because we won’t be able to drive golf carts.’”

While privately owned carts are not allowed on the golf course in the community, they are used by many to traverse within the development — which contains about 1,100 homes so far — to go to the pool, The Landing Bar & Grille, tennis/pickleball courts, the fitness center and other amenities.

“And ride around and talk to people,” Mr. Presley said.

Many Plantation Lakes residents who purchased golf carts on the pretense they would be allowed on the streets may now be opting for LSVs, he added.

“They are just basically putting us in a situation where we have to go out and invest more money into a street-legal vehicle. We will do it, I guess. I think the vast majority will. Will everybody? Probably not because they are more expensive,” he said. “I can tell the council, a vast majority of residents do not understand the reasons given for not moving forward on the approval of this. Many are angry and frustrated. They have spent a lot of money on golf carts based on the assurances from the town that they would be approved at Plantation Lakes. I feel the rug has been pulled out from underneath us, as of the January meeting.”

Councilman Thoroughgood voiced his approval for LSVs.

“I personally am in favor of the LSVs,” he said. “I am not in favor of the golf carts. No. 1 is they don’t go the speed limit. That would be my issue. So you are going to have a backup in your development somewhere. I have heard that golf carts will go off the side of the road and let the cars go by and trucks, and you know as well as I do that is not going to happen.”

Mr. Presley said the golf cart proposal would keep those vehicles with maximum speeds of 18 to 20 mph “confined to the neighborhood because of the speed-limit restrictions.”

He also suggested that if, at some point, DelDOT decides to lower the speed limit on the roadway at Plantation Lakes’ entrance to 35 mph, “the town will likely see a lot of LSVs, not only downtown at the Tastee Freez but also at Lowe’s and BJ’s.”

“I just think they are probably shooting themselves in the foot because what they fear the most is golf carts around town. Well, if we all go out and buy low-speed vehicles, we will be in town,” said Mr. Presley. “The best way for the town to maintain control over this going forward is to pass the charter change. I can tell you with certainty that a majority of cart owners will trade in their carts and buy an LSV cart, if you force us to. The town would then lose the ability to regulate them, since they are legal by both federal and Delaware law.”

Councilman Gum summed up the issue, saying, “Then, we hear the threat that if we don’t allow golf carts, we’re going to use LSVs, and we’re going to drive through town, down the highway. This thing has got so complicated. We’re in here to decide one thing: Do we want to request that the ordinance be changed to allow golf carts on the streets of Plantation Lakes, simply? All of this other stuff is just leverage on people getting their way. I’m sorry it came to that.”