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Columbus has had a ban rarely imposed on adults to ride sidewalks for years. The new law would add electric scooters to this section of the city code.
Users of lime and birds will have to roam the streets or risk getting a ticket to Columbus.
Columbus City Council voted Monday to ban electric scooters from driving on sidewalks. Violating this law would be a minor offense once the city's ordinance comes into force in 30 days, although security officials have acknowledged that the police will be lenient in enforcing the law.
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther's administration issued a temporary emergency order on September 11th to ban sidewalk scooters, but the council's vote was necessary for scooters to be considered bicycles.
Columbus has had a ban rarely imposed on adults to ride sidewalks for years. The proposed amendment would add electric scooters to this section of the city code.
Bird and Lime dropped their fleet of scooters on city sidewalks in July and city authorities wondered how to regulate them. Runners use a smartphone app to rent scooters and are charged by the minute.
City Councilman Emmanuel Remy said the regulation aims to "create a balance between innovation and security".
Under the new law, scooters should drive on streets with a speed limit of 35 mph or less, bike lanes and shared use lanes. They can not be parked on the sidewalks so as to obstruct pedestrians or streets in order to block traffic.
The new law also sets a speed limit of 20 mph on scooters, bans on the highway and requires only one person to drive them at a time and without earphones in both ears.
An amendment to the legislation added after a public hearing last week would require a visible rear light of up to 500 feet on each scooter.
The Ginther administration has also issued regulations requiring companies to obtain city licenses, provide real-time data, offer an option to rent scooters without a credit card and distribute the scooters outside the central business district. The council does not need to vote on these regulations.
The administration intends to continue to review the changes to the law and return to the board to make adjustments, "said Frank Williams, Administrator of the Infrastructure Management Division.
"This is a newer industry and we are responding as best we can. We believe that we have not yet put in place all the best practices because the sector has not been very long, "he said.
On other matters, the Board approved a $ 1.6 million repayment agreement with OhioHealth for the purchase of steel for the North Broadway Route 315 Interchange Project that the city agreed to in exchange for relocation of its offices.
Anticipating a backlog from the steel suppliers, the council applied for the steel at the beginning of the year as it tried to ensure that it received the materials in time to meet construction deadlines. But the only answer to that request was $ 2.4 million, which is 50% more than the board had allowed.
Steel suppliers told city officials that other companies had not responded to the RFQ because of the requirement to block prices for 180 days, said Kelly Scocco, deputy director of the function. public of the city. According to Ohio Scocco, OhioHealth did not have to respect this 180-day rule and was able to obtain four offers for steel.
Instead of buying the steel itself, the city reimburses OhioHealth up to $ 1.6 million for the purchase of Wabash Steel Supply, she added.
Two companies also received tax incentives from the board:
• Davenport Aviation will receive a five-year tax incentive worth $ 15,000 to $ 18,000 in return for maintaining 17 jobs, creating 10 new full-time positions, and renovating its head office. located at 757 Adena, at a cost of $ 840,000.
• EX2 Investments, a real estate holding company, and Carr Supply Co., a distributor of HVAC products, will receive a 75% ten-year property tax rebate valued at $ 561,460. These companies plan to invest $ 2.7 million to expand a shared head office and distribution facility at 1415 Old Leonard Avenue. The company will create 15 new full-time jobs and retain 122 full-time jobs. EX2, owned by brothers Roger and Greg Essig, will lease the property to Carr Supply, where Greg Essig is president.
@RickRouan
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