DRIPPING SPRINGS  — There are new limits that will be placed on electric bikes, or e-bikes, in the city of Dripping Springs park system.

At its Feb. 4 meeting, Dripping Springs City Council voted 5-0 to approve an ordinance update to Article 16.02. Parks and Recreation, due to the increased popularity of electric bikes. This follows the Dripping Springs Ranch Park Board of Directors and the Parks and Recreation Commission approving the recommendation of the ordinance to city council at their meetings in January.

“Bicycles [have] become more and more popular. We’re seeing them more often in our parks … An electric bike is a much heavier bike and going at that rate of speed, we feel is dangerous on some of our trails,” said Parks & Community Services Director Andrew Binz.

With this ordinance update, no power-assisted modes of transportation, including electric bikes, would be allowed at Dripping Springs Ranch Park — because of the amount of vehicle traffic and equestrian/livestock present from events — and Charro Ranch Park, which is considered to have pedestrian-only trails.

However, “we would like to allow electrical bikes, the pedal assist only, at Founders Park and Sports and Rec Park because we do think it is a good option for many people that need that assistance to ride a bike,” Binz said.

Staff also recommended allowing e-bikes on Founders Memorial Park and Sports and Recreation Park trails, but with a limit on the speed to 10 miles per hour and with no use of a throttle if the e-bike is equipped with one.

There are three different classes of electrical bikes, explained Binz.

•    Class 1 electric bicycle: A bicycle with pedal assist, no throttle and a maximum speed of up to 20 miles per hour. The rider must be peddling the bike for assistance.

•    Class 2 electric bicycle: A bicycle with pedal assist, a throttle and a maximum speed of up to 20 miles per hour.

•    Class 3 electric bicycle: A bicycle with pedal assist, a throttle and a maximum speed of up to 28 miles per hour.

According to the updated ordinance, at Founders Memorial Park, excluding the skatepark, and Sports and Recreation Park, Class 1 electric bikes may not be used on trails at a speed greater than 10 miles per hour and Class 2 and 3 electric bicycles may not be used with throttle or on trails at a speed greater than 10 miles per hour.

Following the presentation, Dripping Springs Mayor Bill Foulds laid out his concerns of having both bikers and pedestrians on the same trail.

“Why do we want to allow anything on a trail that goes twice as fast as the normal person can even come close to walking? I guess, as I’ve gotten older and I walk slower — I walk [with] my grandkids or our dog — and someone comes around the corner going 10 miles an hour, that’s fairly fast and it’s putting me in jeopardy,” Foulds said. “I understand the bikes, but I think we have a lot of people who walk on these trails and they’re not five-feet wide in many places, they’re very narrow.”

Binz responded that, as the Dripping Springs park system grows, there are going to be connections to different parts of the city. He said that he has already seen a few people elect to use electric bikes as a mode of transportation to and from work: “I think it is a benefit to allow electrical bikes within our city at just reasonable speeds and not using just the throttle, where you’re just zooming by the walkers and the people enjoying the trail.”

“I agree it is a benefit. We spent, I don’t know how many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars, on bike lanes [and] we have less room to drive on the streets,” Foulds responded. “That is where the bikes, if they’re going 20 miles an hour, or even 10 miles an hour, should be, in my opinion, not on a trail where you have people walking very slow, leisurely. In your own argument, they’re going to work. They’ve got one thing in mind and to me, it creates a problem.”

The e-bikes also have digital speedometers on them, which will allow the readers to determine how fast they are going, Binz said.

To read the full updated ordinance on the agenda, visit drippingsprings-tx.municodemeetings.com.

Dripping Springs City Council meets next at 6 p.m. Feb. 18 at Dripping Springs ISD Center for Learning and Leadership Board Room, 300 Sportsplex Drive.