E-bike riders on the bike path in downtown Marquette Wednesday. (Journal photo by Annie Lippert)

MARQUETTE — At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Marquette City Commission, commissioners voted six-zero in favor of directing city staff to develop an ordinance or ordinances related to the use of e-bikes in the city.

The proposed ordinance(s) would allow e-bike classes 1, 2 and 3 and micromobility devices with motors less than 750 watts to use the bike path, and would also create a reckless riding ordinance which would allow law enforcement to stop perceived dangerous riding, including excessive speed.

Currently, the city code only allows for the operation of devices defined as class 1 ebikes on city multi-use paths, and prohibits the use of all other vehicles powered by sources other than muscular power.

“Following exponential increased popularity and adoption of e-bikes and other related micro-mobility devices by the public due to the rapid evolution of the industry, in both technology and pricing, the city commission directed the creation of the e-bike task force composed of local citizens to research the topic, source community input and provide recommendations for adjustments to city code and policy,” said city clerk Kyle Whitney.

“The task force presented their recommendations to the city commission earlier this year, and city staff have evaluated the efficacy and feasibility of implementing these recommendations, the results of which were presented in a city commission work session preceding (Tuesday’s) meeting.”

No changes in policy would occur until the city came back to the city commission with proposed ordinances, which the commissioners would then vote on.

“I think following the work session we had earlier, that this is the consensus that was generally reached,” said Commissioner Cary Gottlieb, in reference to the commission’s recommendations for ordinances. Gottlieb is chair of the e-bike task force. “It also supports what the task force presented in January. Obviously there needs to be some additional work done on physical changes, which we will have to deal with soon, I hope, as summer is here.”

The “physical changes” Gottlieb referenced include lining the path and adding signage.

“I just want to thank the task force members because I know they put a lot of work into this and met weekly and really dug a lot into the legal and practical aspects of this issue,” said Commissioner Sally Davis. “I appreciate their recommendations.”

“I think what these ordinances are doing is allowing the police to police the behavior and not the device itself,” said Mayor Pro Tem Jeremy Ottaway. “And one of the things that we really learned throughout this process is it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between some of these devices.

“You know we want to keep the city safe, that is first and foremost the goal of putting forth any sort of ordinance. The goal is to make sure everyone is safe. Ultimately, I struggled with this because I had concerns that we would almost be inviting more devices on the path, but as I looked around and considered the past and what I’ve seen, the devices are already there and they’re going to continue to be there.

“Ultimately, it’s a multi use path, not a walkway, not a bike path, but it’s something that is ultimately for everyone in the city and I really hope that by us really starting to police the behavior that’s happening there we can kind of get that behavior in check and everyone can be happy with that path and be safe.”

“I think that this is a very responsible motion, and I think that that’s a word that’s going to come up a lot when it comes to our pathways and the city of Marquette,” said mayor Paul Schloegel. “We need to be responsible for everything from a kid with training wheels to e-bikes to one-wheels, and our parents need to be responsible for their children that are out there using these devices, and I think that this is a good start.

“I would encourage this commission and future commissions to really treat this as a living, breathing document that can be revisited and adjusted to what comes next, whether it’s technological advances or just changes that might need to be made because of the attitude of the people using such a myriad of vehicles.”

Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.