Pasco County commissioners have made it easier to open more roads to golf carts.
The board voted 5-0 without discussion Oct. 20 to approve a resolution that lets the county designate roads in unincorporated areas, many of them rural, for golf cart use. The measure consolidates eight earlier resolutions dating to 1988, according to county documents, and gives the county a streamlined process to add roads at its discretion.
Both residents and law enforcement had asked for clearer rules on golf carts, bicycles and pedestrians on those roads, which keep expanding as new communities are built, according to a memo included in the county documents. Golf carts have become increasingly common in neighborhoods without golf courses.
The resolution covers the Timber Oak subdivision in Bayonet Point, Betmar Acres Mobile Home Park in Zephyrhills, Beacon Woods East and other Hudson communities, the Connected City district in San Antonio and Wesley Chapel, Lake Padgett Estates in Land O’ Lakes, the Longleaf community in Trinity, Gulf Harbors in Port Richey and the Villages of Pasadena Hills.
Expanded golf cart use will be limited to paved multiuse trails, generally 10 feet wide or wider, that connect to a county road or state highway. New paths will still require county approval.
The county also must publish a Golf Cart Network map showing where golf carts are allowed.
Under the resolution, anyone 16 or older with a valid driver’s license or learner’s permit may drive a golf cart. Carts may be operated after sunset if they have headlights, brake lights, turn signals and a windshield. All golf carts must have a horn or other warning device.