City of Powell River Council has passed a bylaw amendment to allow low-speed electric vehicles to operate on city streets.
At the Thursday, February 6, city council meeting, councillors passed the amendment, which would permit these electric vehicles, which typically have a maximum speed of 40 kilometres per hour, to operate on any highway in the municipality that has a speed limit of 50 kilometres per hour or less.
Councillor Cindy Elliott said the amendment was mainly targeting the ability for the city to have electric vehicles to do the city’s work in parks. She said it could also be used by people who have low-speed electric vehicles.
“Currently, they are only allowed on the roads that have up to 40 kilometres per hour,” said Elliott. “This bylaw will allow the vehicles to operate on roads up to 50 kilometres per hour.”
Mayor Dave Formosa said the initiative came to city council from the climate change mitigation and adaptation committee. Councillor CaroleAnn Leishman, who chairs the committee, said the committee was very supportive of this amendment and the City of Powell River youth council was also supportive.
“The youth council thought it sounded like a good idea and they received a presentation from the sustainability planner on the different vehicles that qualify as low-speed electric vehicles,” said Leishman. She added that several other BC municipalities allow these low-speed electric vehicles to operate on municipal streets.
Formosa said he thought allowing these vehicles to operate in Powell River was a good thing.
