Latrobe ordinance update sparks debate over guidelines for motorized wheelchairs

Latrobe officials could lump motorized wheelchairs and scooters into a new ordinance that was designed to govern the use of bicycles and skateboards in the city.

The move would be part of a proposed ordinance update that would make provisions for wheeled devices that aren’t mentioned while eliminating an outdated local requirement for licensing bicycles that has not been enforced.

Pennsylvania already has guidelines in place for special vehicles such as motorized wheelchairs, city manager Michael Gray noted. “I’d like to take those rules and put them into our ordinance,” he told council members this week.

Under state guidelines, Gray said, motorized wheelchairs are not considered vehicles and are not required to be licensed or inspected. Motorists are to treat people using such wheelchairs as they would a pedestrian.

There was some debate among city officials whether Latrobe should set its own guidelines for where the wheelchairs may be used.

Latrobe, in conjunction with PennDOT, recently updated several key downtown intersections to include sidewalk curb ramps with improved handicapped accessibility.

But, solicitor John Greiner said: “Not every street in the city may have a sidewalk. There are areas where (wheelchair users) may have to go on the street.”

Lincoln Avenue is the only major street that is not paralleled by a sidewalk for its entire length, said Scott Wajdic, public works director. Instead, he noted, a rails-to-trails walking path runs alongside Lincoln and provides a surface suited for wheelchairs.

Gray suggested inserting a clause that would direct wheelchair users who enter the street to keep as close as possible to the curb. Police Chief John Sleasman said he would prefer that wheelchairs stay on sidewalks.

“My main concern is safety,” Sleasman said. “The safest place for them to be is on the sidewalk when one is available.

“We’ve seen more and more of these wheelchairs around town. It would be a lot safer if they were restricted to the sidewalk.”

Council will consider the ordinance language when it meets April 11.

The ordinance update would not change existing rules for where bicycles and skateboards may be used.

Bicycles and skateboards are not to be ridden in the city parking garage, while skateboards are not to be used on any streets or alleys or on sidewalks within Latrobe’s downtown business district.

Greiner suggested council may want to update the boundaries spelled out for the downtown skateboard restrictions: the westerly curb line of Alexandria Street on the east, Jefferson Street on the west, the railroad tracks on the north and the northerly curb line of Walnut Street on the south.