FAITH — The Faith Board of Aldermen have received the draft of an ordinance allowing golf carts to be driven on public roads and voted to set a public hearing for the ordinance for before the next board meeting on April 8.

The board of aldermen asked the members of the Faith Planning Board last year to look into creating an ordinance that would create regulations surrounding the driving of golf carts on public roads within the city limits.

The issue was raised for two primary reasons, said Mayor Randall Barger, with one being the fact that the Granite Quarry-Faith Joint Police Authority should be ticketing all golf cart drivers due to golf carts being disallowed on public roads under state law.

“We’ve got two things we can do, we can adopt an ordinance or we don’t adopt one, and if we don’t adopt one then the police department will start going by state rules, they will start abiding by the law. And that’s why we’re doing a golf cart regulation, we don’t want anybody to get any tickets,” said Barger.

The proposed ordinance sets up rules and definitions surrounding the usage of golf carts that follow along with Granite Quarry’s ordinance, which Police Chief Todd Taylor has previously said would help both with enforcement as well as avoiding any confusing situations due to the towns being adjacent.

The ordinance uses the state’s definition of a golf cart, which is a “vehicle designed and manufactured for operation on a golf course for sporting or recreational purposes and that is not capable of exceeding speeds of 20 miles per hour.”

The regulations would require any operator of a vehicle to have a valid driver’s license and liability insurance coverage on the golf cart. It also states that golf carts can only be driven on roads with a 35 mph speed limit or lower and no golf cart shall go faster than 20 mph.

As for enforcement, violation of the ordinance would be punishable by a maximum fine of $25.

The public hearing was set for 6:45 p.m. on April 8, just before the town’s regularly-scheduled board meeting.

In other news from the Faith Board of Aldermen meeting on Tuesday:

• Alderman Gary Gardner was welcomed back to the board after personal health issues had kept him out for the past months.
• Taylor presented the department’s new officers to the board and congratulated Matthew Osborne on winning the David H. Earnhardt Jr. Officer of the Year and Officer Josh Atkins on winning the Chief’s Award. The officer of the year award was renamed this year for Earnhardt, who died of cancer in 2024, and Earnhardt’s family assisted in the selection of Osborne, said Taylor.
• The aldermen voted to close Main Street between Gantt Street and Raney Street on June 21 from 6:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. for the annual Street Dance.
• The board heard from residents of Fraley Street, who said that the city limit sign and the speed limit sign had both been taken down and not replaced. Because the street was divided between the town and the county, the residents said that they had dealt with people driving 55 mph down the small road due to the lack of signage. The board directed Public Works Director Jeff Thomas to replace both the city limit and speed limit signs.