For 2 towns, pace of daily life is now legally leisurely at 15 mph
Commission approval makes Ozona and Crystal Beach the county's first official golf-cart communities.
By NICOLE JOHNSON
Published October 23, 2005
Golf carts in Ozona Beach and Crystal Beach will roll on despite objections from Pinellas County law enforcement and county officials.
The carts were effectively outlawed last year when Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies began ticketing people they saw driving them around the coastal communities.
Golf carts are illegal along certain public roads unless a local government gives the community a special designation.
Pinellas County Commissioners voted 5-2 last week to grant Ozona and Crystal Beach those designations - making them the first golf cart communities in Pinellas County.
"They've convinced the commission that they're unique and different from other communities in the county," said County Commissioner Susan Latvala. "It's a quiet, slowed-down place where golf carts could be used comfortably."
The average electric golf cart weighs about 600 pounds. Most cars go up to about 15 mph and are battery-operated.
Nobody knows just when people started using the carts to putter around Crystal Beach or the neighboring former fishing village of Ozona. Some say it's been at least 30 years.
But whatever their origin, the small motorized vehicles have taken on a personality of utility and simple leisure, and now there are scores of them scattered through the two communities.
In both Ozona and Crystal Beach, there is no front-door mail delivery. Residents must travel to the post office to pick up their letters and packages, and golf carts are ideal for the quick trip.
An afternoon watching the sunset is like an after-work cocktail hour in Crystal Beach, where the main road dead-ends at the Gulf of Mexico.
"It's a social thing; we get in our golf carts to ride down and see our neighbors," said Neil Valk, who has lived in Crystal Beach since the late 1980s. "We don't have the typical subdivision. People run, walk their dogs, talk to their neighbors and ride back and forth to the post office."
But those rides hit a bump in July 2004, when sheriff deputies started handing out $140 tickets to cart riders.
"A $140 ticket," Valk said. "That's a good reason to get them approved."
Some of the streets most traveled by golf carts are those most heavily traveled by cars as well, said Pete Yauch, the county's public works director of transportation.
On Pennsylvania Avenue in Ozona there were 2,000 cars a day with speeds averaging about 42 mph in a 25 mph zone.
Crystal Beach Avenue carries 4,700 vehicles a day, averaging 37 mph in a 25 mph zone, Yauch said.
"They would all qualify under our program for traffic-calming devices like speed humps or multiway stop signs," he said.
But residents in both communities rallied to convince commissioners that the carts should be allowed to stay.
Valk collected 230 petition signatures from Crystal Beach residents, he said.
More than 50 Ozona residents sent letters to commissioners, said Peg Mahara, president of the Ozona Village Improvement Society.
"We had a community meeting a year ago with 80 people who wanted a golf cart-friendly community," she said.
It was one of the most well-attended meetings in the society's history.
With the carts' having won a new legitimacy, county staff must develop a set of rules to govern the vehicles. Drivers will be required to have a license, and carts will need to be outfitted with head lamps, turn signals, reflectors, rear-view mirrors and windshields.
There will also be special signs alerting motorists to the golf carts.
With the county vote out of the way, Mahara said residents are gearing up for the sixth annual Ozona Golf Cart Holiday Parade.
Dozens of carts roll throughout the community decorated in lights and decorations. People throw candy at the carts and party on their lawns.
Last year, there were 40 carts in the parade.
This year?
"Maybe over 50," Mahara said. "Now that it's legal."
