Oviedo introduces annual registration fee to drive golf carts on the street

Golf cart owners will soon have to pay $30 a year to drive their golf carts on certain roads in Oviedo.

The Oviedo City Council unanimously approved the annual $30 cart registration fee during the meeting Tuesday night, two years after the original ordinance allowing golf carts on public roads was adopted. Mayor Megan Sladek said that it took two years since there was no room in the budget for a potential $70,000 project, and now that it can be done under $10,000, it is much more doable.

The intersection at Lockwood Boulevard and Old Lockwood Road is one of the 22 proposed locations where gold cart signage could be installed. Photo by Sofia Sutter.

“I am glad that it’s not going to cost the $70,000 that the signs originally were slated to possibly cost, and it is good that we are moving forward with this,” Sladek said.

In September 2023, the council passed an ordinance that allowed residents to drive golf carts on city roads that have a speed limit of 30 mph or less. The golf carts are prohibited from driving on state or county roads, such as Central Avenue and Aloma Avenue, also known as State Roads 434 and 426. Oviedo Boulevard is golf cart friendly, while Lockwood Boulevard is not since its speed limit is 35 mph.

State law requires signage to be placed where the golf carts are allowed to drive. To offset the costs that are associated with the increasing signage and maintenance of the signage, the city is introducing an annual $30 registration fee on the golf carts.

Sladek said she originally voted against the ordinance, since she thought it was misleading toward the community. She emphasized that Oviedo is not a golf cart community, and only people with a valid driver’s license or learner’s permit can drive registered golf carts on designated roads. To be registered with the city, golf carts must have 11 safety features determined by the state, which include headlights, brakes and seatbelts.

Toward the end of the Dec. 15 council meeting, Bryan Cobb, Oviedo’s city manager, said the original signage plan included 95 different sign locations and cost about $70,000. The new plan includes 22 proposed sign locations and addresses what the city considers “the minimum” needed. Cobb said the cost of installing the signs could be between $4,300 and $9,300, and could be lowered since the signs will be installed by the city, compared to being installed by a contractor. The final cost has not yet been determined.

“It’s a considerable reduction just to do that,” Cobb said. “The original plan covered almost every intersection in town. What this one does is covers our entrances into the city and then covers the intersections of county and state roads where local streets cross over … It’s a significant reduction that we can take care of.” 

The proposed sign locations are the intersections at:

• State Road 434 and Ethan Hammock Court
• Central Avenue and Magnolia Street
• Winter Springs Boulevard and Seneca Boulevard
• State Road 426 and Pine Avenue
• Lake Jessup Avenue and Broadway Street
• County Road 419 and Oviedo Boulevard
• County Road 426 and Lockwood Boulevard
• Red Bug Lake Road and Dovera Drive
• Red Bug Lake Road and Oviedo Mall Boulevard
• Broadway Street north of Mitchell Hammock Road
• Mitchell Hammock Road east of State Road 426
• Mitchell Hammock Road and City Plaza Way
• Mitchell Hammock Road and Kingsbridge Drive
• Mitchell Hammock Road and Henson Court
• County Road 419 west of Sterling Creek
• Sterling Creek Parkway near County Road 419
• West Chapman Road and Ayrshier Place
• Alafaya Trail and Easton Circle
• Lockwood Boulevard and Old Lockwood Road
• Lockwood Boulevard south of the city limit
• Lake Charm north of the city limit

In an email to Oviedo Community News, Oviedo Communications Manager Lisa McDonald wrote that sign placement could increase or be changed as needed as the program moves forward.

It will cost $15.19 of staff time to process a golf cart registration application, and $1.56 per registration decal, according to the city.

Oviedo’s golf cart rules are “more restrictive” than Florida’s law. The state law leaves room for which roads golf carts can drive on after a city’s safety evaluation, while the city law states only roads with a 30 mph speed limit, and lists 10 prohibited roads. Registering a golf cart is not required by the state, but is required to be by the city, as is insurance.

The ordinance and fee only applies to golf carts that drive on designated roads in Oviedo. The golf carts at Twin Rivers do not apply under the ordinance since they do not drive on city streets.

Councilmember Natalie Teuchert said that she hopes Oviedo becomes “a little more golf cart friendly” following the ordinance. 

“You already see them around town,” Teuchert said. “So if anything we’re adding a little bit more of a safety feature of, ‘hey, this is where you can drive and where it’ s allowed’ and bring some awareness to it.”

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