Abbeville council will allow street- legal golf carts; amends trash container ordinance

Some changes to ordinances covering trash containers, golf carts and liquor permits took shape during Tuesday’s regular Abbeville City Council meeting.
The council approved an amendment to the ordinance related to the location of trash containers, adopted language for the use of golf carts and slow-moving vehicles, and moved to repeal and re-enact the liquor license permit ordinance.
All three subjects had been discussed and recommended for a vote of the full council during the ordinance committee meeting on Feb. 7. A public hearing took place on Tuesday before the council voted on each issue.
One of the moves amended Section 15.5-29 (c), the location of trash containers, designating the city as the governing authority determining variances regarding garbage containers at residences within the city limits. Previously, the Vermilion Parish Police Jury had handled that issue.
“Because the police jury is in charge of roadside trash pickup,” Mayor Roslyn White said during the public hearing, “our current ordinance reads that if someone has a medical condition that prevents them from going back and forth from the house to the road, they have to get a variance from the police jury.”
Officials with the police jury sought to adjust that process.
“The police jury reached out to us and said they would like us to take over that authority within the city limits,” White said.
Abbeville’s ordinance states that trash containers can only be placed by the road 24 hours before trash pickup. Those with medical conditions that make moving the trash container to and from the road difficult now have to seek a variance from the city rather than the police jury.
“You will need to come here to the city to get a variance,” White said, “with proof of why you can’t pull it back and forth.”
Some people would like the option to travel back and forth on golf carts in parts of the city. Councilman Francis Touchet Jr. had recently brought the use of golf carts on some city streets to the table. Touchet could not attend Tuesday’s meeting.
“He asked to explore whether we could allow golf carts for commute within the city limits,” White said. “We have done that work. The ordinance talks about it having to be a street-legal golf cart.”
To be deemed street legal, the golf cart must have rear-facing mirrors, DOTD windshields, windshield wipers, horns, speedometer, seat belts, DOTD approved wheels, a license plate holder with lights, headlights and turn signals. The driver must also have a license.
“You can’t just get on your regular golf cart and ride on the streets,” White said. “They need to be equipped with all of those (items).”
Golf carts will not be allowed on state streets, which include many of the streets downtown.
“They have to be on city streets,” White said.
There are further steps to be taken, including the creation application for the permit for the golf carts.
“It still has to be advertised before it’s active,” White said of the ordinance running in the legals for the Abbeville Meridional. “We have to write up the application. This approves it and says, yes, we want to move forward with it.
“We still have work to do before we start allowing it.”
Since taking office as mayor last July, White has focused on making ordinances work better in the present. The liquor permit process is among the work to make the city more business-friendly.
“One of my goals in my administration is to go through the ordinances and update them,” White said during the public hearing. “We want to look at things that need to be streamlined for businesses. One ordinance that we have that we found very cumbersome is the liquor permit application. It’s just a model of the state permit. There’s a lot of duplication and not a lot of sense to some of the things we required businesses to do.”
That included obtaining signatures from neighboring property owners.
“No other city requires that,” White said.
White and City Attorney Bart Broussard reviewed model ordinances from other municipalities.
“We looked at what the state already does and what we can rely on the state to continue to do,” White said. “We presented to the council some proposed language of a revision for our liquor and permit license for businesses. They have reviewed that.”
The four council members in attendance unanimously approved each of the three items after closing the public hearing.