- December 4, 2025
Palm Coast residents under the age of 11 may soon find themselves unable to ride electric bicycles across Palm Coast’s sidewalks a multiuse paths.
The Palm Coast City Council approved in a 4-1 vote on Sept. 16 the first of two readings for an ordinance restricting the use of electric bicycles, or E-bikes, within city limits. The point of the ordinance is to eliminate reckless driving of e-bikes.
“Ultimately, from an enforcement standpoint, the goal is to eliminate reckless driving,” Councilman Ty Miller said, “not to be pulling people over to check their speeds or their IDs or things like that.”
The ordinance defines E-bikes as though powered by an electric engine that is not designed to operate on the roadways, including operating an e-bike with more than 750 watts of power. Reckless driving is prohibited as well.
The ordinance also requires E-bike abide by all traffic regulations and modified E-bikes where the bike pedals have been removed are prohibited for use on public paths and roads within Palm Coast’s jurisdiction. The ordinance would also only apply to public spaces, not a family’s private property.
Ultimately, from an enforcement standpoint, the goal is to eliminate reckless driving."
– TY MILLER, Palm Coast councilman
The proposed ordinance would prohibit anyone under the age of 11 – reduced from the original proposal of 13 years old – from operating an E-bike and riders must carry identification proving their age, just as drivers carry licenses. In the case of minors, they would need to carry their school IDs.
School IDs do not have ages on them, though. City Attorney Marcus Duffy said the purpose of an age requirement is to say at what age someone would be competent to ride an E-bike without parental supervision.
Duffy and the council members got to the 11-year-age by using the average age of students entering middle school. That is when, Duffy said, many kids start riding bikes to school.
Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri was the dissenting vote against the ordinance, solely, she said, because she did not agree with the age restriction.
“I don’t know we should be telling parents what kind of bicycles their kids can and cannot have,” Pontieri said. “I do not support that.”
Miller agreed, though he ultimately voted for the ordinance.
“If our intent is to make things safer,” he said, “age is not necessarily the thing that's causing an unsafe situation.”
I don’t know we should be telling parents what kind of bicycles their kids can and cannot have.”
– THERESA CARLI PONTIERI, Palm Coast vice mayor
However, all the council members agreed on retaining an identification requirement, and having minors have school IDs with them.
“God forbid if one of these kids gets in an accident, you want to know who they are and who to call,” Pontieri said.
The original proposed ordinance, presented at the Sept. 9 workshop meeting, restricted E-bikes from going faster than 10 mph. But there was a concern that the restriction could not be enforced or not enforced fairly, as regular bicycles could also exceed 10 mph in speed.
There is the concern on if the ordinance is overreaching, between singling out E-bikes over regular bicycles and infringing on parental decision making.
“This is a larger discussion, from a policy perspective, as to where you step over in the name of safety and tell parents how to parent,” Pontieri said.
Palm Coast resident Jay Wagner said that it is similar to seatbelt and car seat laws.
“This concept is well founded in American law and ordinances,” Wagner said. “I think you have to look at this from the safety viewpoint.”
The council also considered the merits of requiring some form of educational course, but were not sure what was available.
“Freedom of choice is always where I think all of us want to go. You know, competency and the ability to effectively ride on the roads to protect themselves and others is also important,” Councilman Charles Gambaro said.
Flagler County Commissioner Andy Dance, who is known for being an avid bicycle rider himself, sent the Palm Coast Council a list of suggestions that would help align the ordinance with Florida law and improve readability for riders, parents and enforcement.
Several of his suggestions were to use the accepted terms – using "electric bicycle" instead of "electronic bike," – and defining "reckless" driving in the ordinance, and including examples, like failure to yield, excessive speed giving audible signals when passing.
The council adopted the changes Dance suggested.
At the Sept. 16 meeting, Dance said one way to make things safer for everyone is to invest in a connective network for different types of mobility users.
“So as we move forward, as each project is developed and comes before you, let's look at shared infrastructure, making safe paths for walkers, riders and drivers alike,” he said.
The final reading of the ordinance will be at the Oct. 7 business meeting.
