FAITH — The Faith Board of Aldermen approved an ordinance on Tuesday allowing golf carts to be driven on public roads.

The ordinance comes after the members of the board asked the Faith Planning Board to work with the Granite Quarry-Faith Joint Police Department to develop an ordinance that regulated 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 police should be ticketing all golf cart drivers due to golf carts being disallowed on public roads under state law.

The Faith ordinance follows closely along with the Granite Quarry law, which was done because the two towns border each other and are serviced by the same police department.

Police Chief Todd Taylor noted in his report on the ordinance that many of the negative comments were concerned with a possible increase in crash danger with golf carts on the main streets in town. As a result, Taylor spoke with local chiefs in China Grove, Landis, Cleveland, Rockwell and Spencer, all of whom have golf cart ordinances, and found that over the past 13 years, there had been a total of one minor crash and “no major issues.” Taylor added that Granite Quarry had only issued one warning and no tickets in the 11 years they have had the ordinance.

Taylor also noted that China Grove and Landis had a similar set-up to the one proposed between Faith and Granite Quarry.

Alderman Jayne Lingle asked the chief where the money raised by the permitting fees and violation fines would go, to which Taylor said that it would go into Faith’s general fund, adding that the department could not legally hold onto it. The ordinance requires drivers to register the golf cart with the town and pay a $10 fee and sets a $25 fine for anyone found in violation of the ordinance.

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.

After the discussion, the members of the board voted unanimously to approve the ordinance.