By Stephen Appezzato
LITTLE SILVER – Borough officials, ahead of warmer weather, have introduced a new e-bike-specific ordinance this week in hopes of curbing reports of dangerous riding.
As e-bikes remain a popular mode of transportation, the proposed ordinance empowers the police to uphold specific e-bike rules, such as where they can be ridden and other safe practices.
“We saw the need in the last eight months or so, based on the summer season, (of) high-powered bikes not abiding by the rules of the road,” said council member Kevin Brennan, who serves as council representative on the borough’s Traffic Safety Committee. “There’s some punitive statements in there,” he added.
According to Mayor Robert Neff, a number of residents have called and emailed the borough reporting dangerous e-bike and e-scooter riding, usually among groups of children, posing real safety concerns.
“In the past year, we started noticing this around our town and in other towns,” Neff said. With town officials expecting the number of e-bike riders to increase as summer approaches, setting new rules became a priority.
Under the proposed ordinance, which will have a public hearing Feb. 10, e-bikes are prohibited from operating on sidewalks, borough-owned property and recreation areas, and riders must adhere to traffic laws and safety measures, among other rules. If the law passes, those caught breaking the rules could face graduated penalties, such as fines and having their e-bike impounded. Parents of minors caught breaking the law will be notified of their child’s behavior and can face fines starting at $250 for subsequent violations.
“We realize it’s going to be a learning curve,” Neff said, but “I think we got to this early enough where certainly as we go through the spring season and then the summer, people will have plenty of notice.” With the forthcoming ordinance, Little Silver may join other area towns such as Oceanport, Sea Bright and Fair Haven which, concerned about road safety, put e-bike rules on the books last year.
Affordable Housing
During the Jan. 27 meeting, the borough council also formally committed to the state Department of Community Affairs’ (DCA) fourth round of affordable housing obligations. Under the obligation, the borough faces a “prospective need” (new construction obligation) of 98 affordable units over the next 10 years.
“In discussion with our planner and our affordable housing council, I think we all agreed that we should avoid going to court on this,” council member Don Galante said. The borough had until Jan. 31 to formally commit to the DCA’s calculation.
“I think we’re all in agreement affordable housing is something that’s a good thing,” but how the process plays out is another question, Galante said.
For Little Silver and other local towns, meeting the state’s affordable housing requirement has historically been challenging due to a lack of available space for construction.
“It’s kind of hard to understand how that’s even obtainable,” Galante said of the state’s number, noting the borough is, for the most part, already built out with its approximately 2,100 homes.
Galante said Little Silver will continue to follow the “20% set-aside” rule, where 20% of units in new developments are reserved for low- and moderate-income housing. Neff also mentioned there is a borough-owned property on Birch Avenue that may be used for affordable housing at some point.
“All those things are in play now,” he said. “This is a formal step to continue that process and we’ll have public meetings on that issue.”
The borough now has until June 30 to develop a plan to meet the affordable housing requirements.
The article originally appeared in the January 30 – February 5, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
