Another attempt to drive business downtown

Two public meetings will be held March 30 about a proposed expansion of the downtown golf cart map.

By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com

According to some city officials and downtown merchants, golf cart drivers could be business drivers.

The Ocala City Council voted down extending the golf cart-approved zone into downtown on Nov. 1, 2022, despite recommendations from the city’s planning department and Jessica Fieldhouse, executive director of Ocala Main Street, a downtown merchants and businesses organization.

At that meeting, Fieldhouse reported to the council that 80% of business owners surveyed were in favor of the proposal. She cited a national study that said those walking, riding bicycles or traveling in golf carts typically spend 40% more than people in vehicles. Mayor Kent Guinn requested more specific information on Fieldhouse’s findings.

Council President James Hilty (then councilmember Hilty) called the revised map “the dumbest idea,” adding that it would be “a disaster” if approved. Other councilmembers had mixed feelings and brought up traffic and parking concerns and quickly shut down the proposal.

Tye Chighizola, the city’s director of planning and development, proposed the extension at the meeting and said he had researched safety issues and public concerns for the better part of 2022. A few months earlier, last August, two downtown community feedback sessions familiarized the public with city officials’ plans as well as their extensive research.

Giving it another try, Chighizola will be back at the City Council podium sometime in the near future to present more data on why golf carts should be allowed downtown.

His proposed legislation, city Ordinance 2023-7, states that the proposed map changes will allow golf carts in the downtown south of State Road 40, east of South Pine Avenue, and north of the S-curve.

“The changes will allow golf carts from the existing southeast neighborhoods to cross SE Watula Avenue into the downtown area,” Chighizola states in the proposed ordinance. “The changes do not include crossing state roads or special parking requirements for the golf carts.”

Before taking his proposed ordinance to the City Council, Chighizola’s office wants to get community input again.

The city’s planning department will host two public meetings about the proposed expansion of the downtown golf cart map at noon and 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 30, at the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC), 15 SE Osceola Ave. Both sessions will present the same information.

Staff will be available to answer questions regarding the proposed map and other ordinance concerns. Downtown business owners, current golf cart permit holders and those potentially impacted by the change are encouraged to attend.

The currently approved area for golf carts is between Southeast 17th Street to the south, East Fort King Street to the north, Northeast 25th Avenue to the east and Third Avenue to the west.

On March 11, a golf cart driver ventured beyond those parameters and endured injuries in a rollover accident off Southwest 10th Street. Ocala Fire Rescue and the Ocala Police Department were called to the scene. Information about any possible charges and the driver’s condition were not available at press time.

A speed limit sign of 45 is posted near the embankment where the golf cart rolled over. No data is available on incidents of crashes in Florida downtown districts but, according to the Florida Department of Transportation,