Commissioner Darrell Apffel
Monday, November 30, 2020
Today, I sponsored and passed a resolution in support of Galveston County being added to Texas State House Bill 1548, which allows golf carts and off-highway vehicle use in the unincorporated areas of Galveston County. Texas State Representative Mayes Middleton is going to have Galveston County added to HB 1548 during the 2021 legislative session. All of Commissioners Court is fighting for your right to drive your golf carts in the unincorporated areas of Galveston County!
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Thanks for your latest attempt at addressing the situation, but without stipulations restricting ATV’s, SXS’s, and other unlicensed off road vehicles capable of driving highway speeds from using the streets as their playground. Your bill is just more pandering to the most vocal (the whiners),and doesn’t address the PROBLEM. Consider asking law enforcement who, and what type vehicle presents their biggest headache. Guaranteed,
it won’t be a golf cart with a top speed of 25mph (in the majority of cases). They need something to use as a deterent to what is common among the people driving ATV’s and SXS’s. Your latest attempt fails to “cure” anything. GCSO needs a “resolution” from you that has teeth in it, that allows vehicles as docile as golf carts on neighborhood streets, while denying that access without consequences to unlicensed vehicles capable of highway speeds, notoriously driven less safely, by less than cautious drivers. Law enforcement needs a law, not a weak kneed response from lawmakers that turns neighborhood streets to fun parks. Get with GCSO if you haven’t already, find out where their real problem lies with the situation, and address it. Your resolution is not addressing what law enforcement has to deal with, or what inflamed the situation again.
It does state speed limits of 35mph or less. So I assume that just like a vehicle, you will be ticketed by Sheriff Patrol for speeding.
Well Mayes,
I am very disappointed that you were part of this. Now the sheriff won’t be able to stop those 4 Wheelers riding up and down the beach and neighborhoods creating havoc. Granted not all do but when our very few sheriffs are unable to stop the 12 year olds on the dunes it is a sad day for Bolivar peninsula. You have just opened a Pandora’s box for us. Sad to see this. BTW, is a drivers license required to drive an ATV? I have always supported you but I think you are wrong on this issue. Anyone that aligns with Appfels makes me suspect their intentions. JMHO
We totally support Commissioner Apffel and allowing vehicles to travel to beach. We have owned property on Bolivar for 50 yrs. We also support Rep. Middleton and his concern for freedom.
We have been wondering who all these recent immigrants are that have moved to beach and bought property here. Many seem strange and now we know who some of you are.
Get a life or get hell off our beach….
There are speeding and reckless driving laws to protect law abiding citizens. It isn’t the vehicle, it when an irresponsible person is driving. I personally talk to them and get their cooperation. Go back and watch Judge Judy.
The objectionable aspect to this proposal is that the proposal primarily benefits owners of off-road vehicles who are not from Galveston County, who are not property owners in Galveston County and who do not vote in Galveston County. The owners of the off-road vehicles are primarily renters who come from outside Galveston County. Off-road vehicles are allowed on the beach but in order to comply with the law they must be trailered to the beach. Commissioner Apffel wishes to convenience the owners of off-highway vehicles. And as a gesture of fairness, I guess, he gives the Bolivar Peninsular property owners who own golf carts the sleeves off his vest. This proposal does nothing for owners of golf carts because golf carts have been allowed on subdivision roads for well over 10 years. In my subdivision, the off-road vehicles are owned by renters who rent the property of rental property owners in the subdivision. Some are trailered to the beach because our golf cart crossing is not wide enough for them. Others drive over the dunes. By inviting off-road vehicles to travel the streets of our subdivision looking to avoid being trailered to the beach and looking for a quick way to the beach, Commissioner Apffel’s proposal will encourage off-road vehicles to be driven over the dunes (dunes which the subdivision paid to rehabilitate). We’ve learned to keep our second cart crossing narrow because the heavier off-road vehicles wrecked the first crossing we built after Ike. With the exception of one or two, the owners of rental property in our subdivision have not contributed to cost of restoring our subdivision after hurricane Ike nor do they contribute now to the expenses and maintenance (including of the cart crossing). And now, to add insult to injury, Commissioner Apffel encourages more of this kind of abuse on us.
Your making a lot of assumptions of what will happen. Since you are never going to own an ATV, forbidding anyone else for owning one would make since to an old geezer. Maybe you should buy and demolish all the rent houses where you wouldn’t have to put up with renters. Are you going to start on the travel trailers in subdivisions next? Who is encouraging irresponsible driving? Is Exxon encouraging you to drive irresponsibly because you bought their gas? I’d guess you are on the HOA board as you would like to force other folks to comply with your ideas. The County/State paid for 99% of the dunes. I you you want better dunes then do it at your expense.
Makes such sense. Before Ike, we joined with other peninsula folks & took tons of pictures of UTVs & golfcarts to take to the courts to show that it’s impossible to tell the vast majority of them apart these days. A court date was set. Then Ike hit.