A. Commencing November 1, 2022, any resident within the City owning and operating a low-speed gas bicycle within the City shall register the same with the Police Department. The owner shall furnish the Police Department with his or her name and address, the make and serial number of the low-speed gas bicycle, and any other information as the Police Department may require.
B. Such registration shall be made to the Chief of Police upon a form provided by the Chief of Police. Upon receipt of such application, the Chief of Police shall provide, at the expense of the city, a tag he shall cause to be firmly attached to the frame of the bicycle in such a manner as the Chief of Police shall prescribe. The removal of any such tag, except by proper authority, shall be a violation of this section.
C. The owner shall pay an annual registration fee for any low-speed gas bicycle of fifty dollars ($50.00), which shall be due at the time of registration. Any such registration payment made on or after commencement date November 1, 2022, shall make the registration valid until December 31, 2023, at which time the owner's annual registration form and fee shall again be due and payable. Commencing January 1, 2024, annual registration forms and fees are due on January 1st and expire on December 31st of each calendar year. All such registration fee payments shall be made at the Charleston Water Department.
D. The Chief of Police, or any official he or she shall designate, shall have authority to inspect all low-speed gas bicycles for mechanical fitness, and may refuse to grant or may revoke the registration of any low-speed gas bicycle deemed to be in unsafe mechanical condition.
E. Any person who fails to register their low-speed gas bicycle and to pay the registration fee within the time frame required by this Chapter shall be assessed a late fee of ten dollars ($10.00), which shall be due in addition to the registration fee set forth herein and in addition to any penalty provided for in Section 4 of this Chapter.
F. It shall be the duty of every person who sells or transfers ownership of any low-speed gas bicycle to report within five days of the date of such sale or transfer to the Chief of Police, the name and address of the person to whom the bicycle was sold or transferred. It shall be the duty of the purchaser or transferee of such low-speed gas bicycle to apply for a transfer of the registration thereof within five days of the sale or transfer.
(Ord. 2022-O-36, 10-4-2022)