After hearing dozens of residents supporting and opposing the move, Parks Department Director Britt Haley told council members: "We've been working on a policy since 2018 because we need this in some format."
Most council members agreed, recognizing the need for a policy to manage e-bikes that have increasingly roamed trails despite posted rules against them. Their legal day could come July 1 under the ordinance passed Tuesday, which followed mixed decisions last fall by the city's parks board and Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOPS) committee.
Under the ordinance, Class 1 e-bikes would be allowed where other bikes are allowed. Those are e-bikes with motors providing boosts up to 20 mph only when the rider is pedaling.
The ordinance defines them as "non-motorized use." And this has been the crux of debate going back to 2021, when the city was about to launch a pilot program that would've allowed e-bikes in popular destinations such as Red Rock Canyon, Stratton and Blodgett open spaces along with Ute Valley Park and trails around Pulpit Rock.
Those are among properties acquired by the 1997 voter-approved TOPS ordinance, which set aside sales tax dollars to fund parks and open spaces. The ordinance bans motors, critics of the e-bike policy have contended.
While supporting an expansion of e-bike access, "It's very clear that this approach is an attempt to get around the requirements of the TOPS ordinance," Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates Executive Director Cory Sutela repeated at Tuesday's council meeting.
He added: "The question is, Will this lead us to some other kinds of legal challenges? And could those be successful and set us back further in our attempt to increase e-bike access?"
Prominent civic leaders organized as Together for Colorado Springs have hinted at the possibility of a lawsuit. A former member of the City Council and former Colorado secretary of state, Wayne Williams is the group's legal representative.
On Tuesday, he praised the Parks Department's presentation promising a "phased approach," whereby "some properties would be addressed prior to an introduction of e-bikes."
Williams called for TOPS properties to be specifically excluded. He and others have insisted on voters approving e-bikes on TOPS lands, not the City Council.
Dave Donelson was among council members who agreed. By defining Class 1 e-bikes as "non-motorized use," Donelson said, "I just worry about what message that sends. How much trust can (voters) have in us that we won't come up with a convenient definition for generally understood terms in the future?"
The move was to allow "definitional structure" for management, a city attorney said. And the move would align the parks department with federal and state definitions of Class 1 e-bikes, which are not subject to motor vehicle regulation, said a policy coordinator with Boulder-based PeopleForBikes.
Maddie Godby also noted several other Front Range land managers expanded e-bikes in parks and open spaces years ago, including Douglas and Jefferson counties.
A ballot question for voters "would not only be unnecessary and costly," Godby said, "but understanding specifics of e-bikes has been daunting for city leadership, and it will be even more so for the general public."
Councilmember Yolanda Avila disagreed. "I see our citizens as pretty smart and savvy; they know what they want," she said.
In the 1997 TOPS ordinance, they did not want motorcycles and dirt bikes on trails — that's what "non-motorized" meant, e-bike policy proponents have said.
"I don't think anyone on this dais or anyone here can say, this is what they had in their head," Avila said.
While voting against the policy, she voiced her support of e-bikes and dozens of riders who gathered Tuesday to speak. They spoke on e-bikes granting them exercise and nature amid aging and disabilities, about the "life-changing" technology allowing them to ride again with friends and family.
The approved policy was long-awaited by the local bike industry as well.
Without e-bikes, "I would be out of business," said Nic Ponsor, owner of Criterium Bicycles. Buying and selling with confidence, he said, would be helped by "across-the-board definitions" and "some very clear and concise rules."
But the policy is not a "one-size-fits-all, blanket approach," said Sarah Bryarly, chair of the city's parks board.
She emphasized the phased approach — noting conservation easements across several properties, including Red Rock Canyon Open Space, Stratton Open Space and parts of Ute Valley Park.
Held by Palmer Land Conservancy, the conservation easements prohibit e-bikes.
"Just because you make a change today, it's not going to change our conservation easements. That process still has to come," Palmer Land Conservancy's Steve Harris told the council. "We will work with the city, but I don't want anyone coming away thinking when this is passed, you can use an e-bike on our conservation easement properties."
The policy was only a long-awaited start, Councilmember David Leinweber suggested.
"We need to have a clear framework that everyone's working off," he said.
© 2025 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
