St. Augustine Beach has an e-bike law, and it has been in force since Sept. 8.

The city commission adopted it that night on second and final reading, after a public hearing. It was the first item under public hearings. The city’s own summary of the meeting records the result in one line: “The Commission adopted the ordinance regulating the operation of electric mobility devices.”

The last section of the ordinance is one sentence. “This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its passage and adoption.”

So what follows is not a proposal.

The ordinance in the packet is headed Ordinance 2026-06. The agenda calls it Ordinance 26-06. It runs ten pages. It rewrites Section 19-66 of the city code, in the traffic chapter.

Who may ride

The age line is on page 6.

“No person under 12 years of age may operate an E-Bike on any road, right-of-way, bicycle lane, bicycle path, sidewalk, or other City-owned property.”

A child under that age may still ride as a passenger, on a bike built and equipped to carry one.

Helmets are on page 7, and the rule reaches the parent as well as the rider. “An operator or passenger under 16 years of age on a Bicycle or Electric Bicycle must wear a properly fitted, securely fastened bicycle helmet upon the operator’s or passenger’s head that meets the federal safety standard for bicycle helmets, final rule, 16 C.F.R. part 1203. A parent or legal guardian may not knowingly permit a child under 16 years of age to violate this subsection.”

Where

Sidewalks are open. That is the change.

Page 6 again: “Micromobility Devices, subject to those restrictions in Section 19-4, may be operated on bicycles lanes, bicycles paths, sidewalks, and roadways consistent with this ordinance.”

Section 19-66 as it stood before Sept. 8 said the opposite. “All public sidewalks, pedestrian pathways, courtyards, arcades, promenades, seawalls, and boardwalks shall be only available for use by pedestrians or non-motorized or non-electric bicycles except for the following.” That sentence was adopted Feb. 3, 2020, in Ordinance 20-01. The new ordinance strikes it.

The replacement list keeps everything on it except the sidewalks. “All public courtyards, designated pedestrian-only pathways, arcades, promenades, seawalls, and boardwalks shall be only available for use by pedestrians or non-motorized or non-electric bicycles, except for the following.” The exceptions are land the state or federal government controls, and shared use paths the city manager designates and marks with signs.

The sand is covered by a different rule. That one came in on Feb. 5, 2024, when the commission voted to adopt the county beach code section on electric bicycles.

How fast, and past whom

Lights are on page 6. The definition of nighttime is on page 3, and it starts a half hour after sunset. An e-bike or a motorized scooter ridden after that needs a white lamp on the front visible at 500 feet, and a lamp and reflector on the rear showing a red light visible at 600 feet. All of it has to be on and operational.

The slow rule is on page 7. Inside a posted school zone when the lights are flashing, and within 50 feet of any marked crosswalk or intersection corner, a rider drops to walking pace. The ordinance says what walking pace is: “Pedestrian speed is considered a speed not exceeding 5 miles per hour or slow enough for the operator to yield to pedestrians and stop within a short distance to avoid conflict.”

Riding a micromobility device “in an unsafe and reckless manner” is unlawful in a bike lane, on a path, on a sidewalk, in a right-of-way and on a road. The ordinance lists what it means: “failure to yield, failure to slow when passing pedestrians, failure to give an audible signal when passing, failure to operate with due care, and excessive speed.”

Which bikes

The ordinance does not sort riders by class. Florida defines three classes at s. 316.003(23), all of them under 750 watts. A Class 1 assists only while the rider is pedaling and stops assisting at 20 miles per hour. A Class 2 can propel the bike on its own and also stops at 20. A Class 3 assists only while pedaling and stops at 28.

The city’s definition takes in all three and adds a ceiling of its own. “Any and all E-bikes shall not have any throttle-assistance above 20 miles per hour.”

The class label is part of it. An e-bike has to display the manufacturer’s class label, and taking the pedals off or altering the propulsion system, physically or through software, prohibits the bike’s use in the city.

Above 750 watts the machine is out. The ordinance says the operation of an e-bike “that produces more than 750 watts of power” is prohibited “on the roadways, sidewalks, right-of-ways, bicycles paths, and bicycles lanes” in the city.

Electric dirt bikes are out of every public space in the city. The ordinance calls them off-road electric motor-driven cycles and bars them from bike lanes, bike paths, city property including parks, city rights-of-way, public spaces, roads, crosswalks, sidewalks and public pathways. Then it says where they may go. “Such devices may operate only on private property with owner consent.”

What it costs

The penalty ladder is on pages 7 and 8, and it is civil.

“For the first offense, a civil penalty $100.00 or a written warning.” Second offense, $150.00. Third and each one after that, $200.00.

Officers may impound a device found in violation, and a device left unattended on public property may be impounded as well. Getting it back takes the towing, storage and administrative fees, proof of ownership, and the release of any law enforcement hold.

Police Chief Daniel Carswell told News4JAX the ordinance gives his officers a way to handle it short of a court date. “We’re not looking to go out and give a bunch of kids tickets; it starts with education and the ordinance is something that gives us another tool as opposed to these criminal citations that were our option prior to this,” he said.

One line in the enforcement paragraph is not civil. “Any person who willfully refuses to sign and to accept a warning notice of violation or a written citation issued by a law enforcement officer shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree.”

Where it applies

Inside the city limits. Outside them, in the unincorporated county, there is a resolution instead of an ordinance. The county commission passed it on Aug. 5, 2025, and the county’s release prints the text. The board “supports, encourages, and promotes” a list of practices, among them that a rider on a pedestrian path hold to 10 miles per hour or less and that operators wear a helmet. Supports, encourages and promotes are the verbs. No fine is attached to any of them.

The state left the choice to the city. Section 316.20655 says nothing in it prevents a local government “from adopting an ordinance governing the operation of electric bicycles on streets, highways, sidewalks, and sidewalk areas under or within the local government’s jurisdiction,” or from setting a minimum age.

The record

The commission passed the ordinance on first reading on Aug. 3. Those minutes are in the Sept. 8 packet. “Motion: To approve Ordinance 2026-06. Moved by Commissioner Rumrell, Seconded by Commissioner George. Motion passed unanimously.” The roll call that night listed all five commissioners present. That was the first reading.

For Sept. 8 there is a press release and no roll. The minutes column for that meeting is empty in the city’s agenda index. The city approves its minutes at a later meeting.

Ordinance 26-06 has been in effect a week. The next regular commission meeting is Oct. 5.