Winchester City E-bike ordinance - its time to show up

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sjpoli7

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Aug 14, 2026, 8:56:22 AMAug 14
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The Public Safety & Health Committee of City Council has published an agenda for their meeting on Wednesday May 19th at 5pm in Rouss City Hall - Zuckerman room.  
As of Friday at 8:30am they did not include an attachment of the proposed ordinance.  Because we do not know what the ordinance is trying to do, if you have a legal e-bike (class 1, 2 or 3) and live or ride it in Winchester I strongly urge you to attend this meeting.  Worst case, it is a purely innocuous ordinance.  But if not we will be there to send a message that people who ride legal e-bikes or know people that ride legal e-bikes or know people that sell legal e-bikes don't want to be the victims of an ordinance that might punish responsible legal e-bike riders due to the actions of people riding illegal e-motos/e-scooters recklessly in the city.  
Steve Policastro 

Andrea Cosans

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Aug 14, 2026, 8:58:28 AMAug 14
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Steve, this says Wednesday, May 19 do you mean August 19?


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C. Rumsey

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Aug 14, 2026, 9:07:17 AMAug 14
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If you read the attached it says Aug 19 2026. 
Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 14, 2026, at 08:58, 'Andrea Cosans' via Winchester Wheelmen <whee...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Steve, this says Wednesday, May 19 do you mean August 19?

sjpoli7

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Aug 14, 2026, 9:08:38 AMAug 14
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My apologies -yes the meeting is Wednesday August 19th at 5pm Rouss City Hall - Zuckerman meeting room 

Andrea Cosans

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Aug 14, 2026, 9:36:50 AMAug 14
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I'll be there.




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Robert Golightly

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Aug 18, 2026, 9:25:05 PMAug 18
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They do not keep bikes, scooters and skate boards off the walking mall. Guess this is just another useless ordinance. 
Can not fix the signal lights either. No need to complain, does not go anywhere , does it Brendon?
On Tue, Aug 18, 2026 at 8:46 PM sjpoli7 <sjp...@gmail.com> wrote:
See link below.  I wanted to share it as soon as it became available.  It feels like the City doesn't really know what to do but they want to look like they are doing something.  This is an incredibly broad ordinance that is in all practicality unenforceable and could actually result in more injuries. 


I know 99% of Wheelmen probably have never ridden any kind of device on a sidewalk in Winchester, but there are many people in Winchester that ride on the sidewalk because they don't have any other means of transportation and the City has done absolutely nothing to make it safe to ride on the street. 

Please attend the meeting tomorrow at 5pm at Rouss City Hall to show the City that we have a community that wants to make it safer to bicycle in Winchester, not more dangerou.  Winchester will become  more dangerous by prohibiting riding a bicycle on a sidewalk when it's the only safe place to ride. 

Steve Policastro 

Mark Merrill

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Aug 19, 2026, 6:21:02 PMAug 19
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Steve, sorry to miss your meeting but we are in North Carolina 

Please keep me posted and let me know if I can help 
Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 18, 2026, at 9:25 PM, Robert Golightly <rgoligh...@gmail.com> wrote:



sjpoli7

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Aug 21, 2026, 9:11:40 AMAug 21
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On 8/19, the Public Health & Safety Committee tabled a decision on the ordinance prohibiting all devices on sidewalks in Winchester until their next meeting on 9/16.  They requested the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) provide feedback at the next meeting.  This might be a challenge as the BPAC has yet to be formed by the City but that is another matter.

Here is a link to the video from - https://winchesterva.new.swagit.com/videos/396734?ts=0
Below are the timestamps if you want to skip around. 
  • There were comments from 9 citizens.  Approximately 15 citizens were in attendance.I think this had a big impact on their decision to table the ordinance.  Thank You!
  • Due to the structure of the agenda, the public comments were first.  4:00-27:00
  • The first agenda topic is Drones as First Responders, from 27:00-1:05
  • The Sidewalk Ordinance agenda item presentation by the City begins at 1:05:30
  • The opening remark from the City attorney is quite remarkable at 1:06.  She correctly states that Virginia Statute 46.2-800 requires bicycles to follow the rules of the road and are considered vehicles when on the road. She then says "cars aren't allowed on sidewalks, bikes aren't allowed on sidewalks".  As if somehow 46.2-800 changes the definition of a bicycle into a vehicle.  She is making this leap because 46.2-903 says "no person shall ride or drive a vehicle on sidewalks..."  however that section contains exceptions one of which is (iv) bicycle and (vi) electric power assisted bicycle
  • At 1:16 Chief Lewis shares data on 22 incidents in 2026 that have been recorded in their system that contain the words e-bike/e-scooter. Be aware that when they use the term e-bikes they do not distinguish between legal e-bikes (Class 1,2, 3) and e-motos. 
    • He broke the incidents out in the following 4 categories in descending order of number of occurrences but no numbers were shared for each category.  He did not mention anything about riding on sidewalks and thankfully there no reported injuries. 
      • Juvenile behavior & nuisance calls 
      • Traffic violations in the roadway
      • Welfare/unsafe riding
      • Thefts of e-bikes/scooters
  • The rest of the meeting 1:18:30 - 1:37 is comments/discussion between the two councilors (Kathy Tagnesi and Kim Herbstritt) and the presenters (City Attorney Melisa Michelsen and Chief Lewis)
  • I will be writing a second letter to the Star reporters asking them to stop using the term e-bikes incorrectly because they are not distinguishing between legal e-bikes and illegal e-motos.  
  • In the article they quote the City Attorney saying that "riding a bicycle on the sidewalk is already illegal".  I can find no evidence of this in the City Code.  The only mention of riding bicycles on sidewalks in the current City Code, Chapter 26 Streets and Sidewalks is on the Walking Mall. 
  • The Star should have asked 
    • If it is already illegal, why is a new ordinance needed?  
    • If it is already illegal, the State of Virginia Code requires signs to be posted indicating it is prohibited 26.2-904.  Why are there no signs in Winchester except on the Walking Mall where it is prohibited in the City Code 26.33.3 (c) (1)?

K Tenney

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Aug 21, 2026, 9:35:22 AMAug 21
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Good morning, Steve,

Great job reporting on this. Good questions to finish. Interested to see how this plays out. I wasn't able to make it the other evening, but hope to stay close to it.

It would be good if there was a Winchester Wheelmen member on that BPAC (Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee). Are there any interested retirees that could participate? (Asking generally to WW Google Group participants, not to you specifically, Steve.)

Ken Tenney

sjpoli7

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Aug 21, 2026, 9:51:12 AMAug 21
to Winchester Wheelmen
Ken

Thanks.  As far as the BPAC, the City advertised for applicants last fall.  From what I have been told there were somewhere between 15-20 applicants. It was supposed to kick of in January 2026.  
Scroll down to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, there is an apply button that is still active (see attached picture)

Steve
Image 8-21-26 at 9.49 AM.jpeg

Ed Tilley

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Aug 21, 2026, 12:10:41 PMAug 21
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Hi Ken, With the new city manager, I understand that advisory committee is on hold. I completed the application for it last year. Ed




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