Board chairman dissatisfied with language in Charles City bike race proposed ordinance

In August, Charles City’s Board of Supervisors held a special meeting to weigh the pros and cons of bike races within county borders. After that meeting, a directive was given to develop an ordinance to address that issue. After Tuesday night’s board meeting, it will be at least an additional month before something is presented to county leaders.

Displeased with the language in the proposed ordinance, District 2 and Board Chairman Bill Coada issued a directive to Sands Anderson, the county’s law firm, to reword the ordinance and present a specific ordinance geared to bike races.

The August meeting presented valuable information from citizens to county leaders. Many citizens were upset of the routes that are used by several races in the eastern portion of Charles City County. Those routes include roads deemed unsuitable to pass on according to those residents, citing attempts to provide a three-foot clearance to pass vehicles.

Other citizens spoke about the conditions of the road and the lack of shoulders. More issues were raised by constituents regarding what benefits that Charles City County received from the races. Many of the bike races originate in James City County but use Charles City County roads for a majority of their races.

Jesse Bausch of Sands Anderson presented an ordinance to Charles City leaders at Tuesday’s meeting. Bausch said that the ordinance mirrors one similar to James City County that establishes permit procedure, how it will affect the community, how it will operate, and requires the applicant to meet a set list of criteria. In addition, a nominal fee is applied to the permit and the county administrator will have the right to evaluate it along with supervisors over a 90-day period. In addition to the local permit, the applicant would need to complete a permit through Virginia’s Department of Transportation (VDOT) if they plan to use VDOT roads and right-a-ways.

But Coada was not pleased with the current information he received, questioning the term of road race.

“It doesn’t say anything about the hours and the limitation of people in this ordinance,” he said. “Can we or can we not establish a specific ordinance for bike races?”

While Bausch said that it was possible to do that, Coada expressed to the lawyer that he was not pleased with the progress.

“This is not what I requested and now we are a month behind,” the chairman added. “I want a specific, separate bike race ordinance.

“I want to limit the months they can ride so that our farmers can tend to their harvest season,” Coada added. “I want to limit the number of participants and I want to be able to limit the total number of races, participants, and the times that they can do it.

“I don’t want to eliminate them, but we need to organize them and have more control over them,” the chairman concluded.

In one last question asked by Coada to Bausch, he asked that if the ordinance passed, could VDOT’s permit override the county’s decision.

“VDOT’s permit cannot supersede the county’s permit for bike races if the county denies it,” Bausch responded to Coada.

The revised proposed ordinance is expected to be addressed and discussed at the November regular board meeting.