Incline Village, on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, has some of the prettiest views around the basin. And thanks to the recently finished East Shore Trail, soon to be extended by another 8 miles, it has some of the best access to east shore beaches and popular Sand Harbor State Park for visitors and residents who prefer to leave their cars at home. 

But that could change, depending on how police decide to enforce a new Washoe County ordinance some residents are calling an e-bike “ban.” 

According to Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Police Sgt. Nicholas Tone, the town’s police will be cracking down on unsafe e-bikers: “With this new ordinance, it makes it so these e-bikes, you have to take them to the roadways and follow the same rules of the road as cars do.” 

But for some residents, the perceived e-bike “ban” is avoiding the real problems in transportation, and putting money and effort into solutions that won’t better the town or the north shore’s transportation problems long-term.

According to Tone, the law that bikes should stay off sidewalks has been on the books in Washoe County since 2012, though a new update will add the word “e-bikes” to the ordinance, rather than grouping them in with motorized bicycles.

“Technically, bicycles have always been banned on sidewalks and some of these biking paths. It was just never really enforced,” he said. But after issues he described as “a couple of crashes — injury-causing crashes — running into pedestrians, flying out from a path to a roadway where a vehicle doesn’t have time to stop,” the county decided to crack down on speedy e-bikers on sidewalks in Incline Village. The decision was announced in recent community meetings and confirmed by Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill. 

Tone is quick to point out that it isn’t a ban. The department won’t be forcing children to ride in the streets, or pushing safe cyclists going the speed limit (15 mph) onto poorly marked bike lanes.

“We’re not going to come down hammering people,” he told SFGATE. He said they plan to use the new rule as a way to address reckless e-bikers’ behavior, not as a hard-and-fast rule applied to everyone. “The position we’ve taken is if you’re riding responsibly, you’re not creating a public safety issue, you’re OK.”

He said the department isn’t against e-bikes, nor against people riding them, pointing out a new purchase of six new e-bikes for summer law enforcement. He knows Incline Village is lacking in consistent bike lane markings (or, in some cases, bike lanes of any kind), and said they don’t want anyone to feel unsafe while recreating — but that also includes pedestrians. 

“It’s a result of irresponsible individuals that choose to go car speeds on walking paths occupied by pedestrians and children and elderly folks,” he said.

On Oct. 24 and 25, Incline Village resident Brad Buxton posted on a town Facebook page inquiring whether anyone had more details of an e-bike “ban” announced by Washoe County.

“Washoe County has banned e-bikes from all bike paths,” read the post. “This seems counterintuitive to reducing car trips and pollution in the Lake Tahoe basin.”

Buxton said he’s an avid biker, and completely agrees that many cyclists are irresponsible and fail to follow the rules of the road. So while he does support measures to make cyclists behave safely and move at reasonable speeds on sidewalks and paths, he said he doesn’t think the new language is appropriate. He cited two main concerns: First, that the county should be spending funds and efforts on projects to make cycling in Incline Village safer, like improving shoulders, creating safe crossing zones, and separate bike lanes when possible; second, he said the language should speak to what it really is — enforcement of speed limits and punishing unsafe behavior — rather than writing the law as a full ban and just trusting that it’ll be enforced as promised. 

“I think it’s kind of a superficial issue,” he said of the idea that a sidewalk e-bike ban is the answer, “and that there’s a larger issue that needs to be addressed. And instead of giving the sheriff the ultimate enforcement, they could just enforce speed limits to improve the infrastructure, rather than a full motorized ban.” He says he’s worried it’ll be seen as a safety solution, leading some of the funds laid out in the 2023 Washoe County Tahoe Transportation Plan to be diverted for other projects that don’t improve bike infrastructure.

“I think them enforcing speed limits is fine. If they’re going to do that, that’s great. And having police out on the trails will probably improve that and make people feel better,” he said. But he doesn’t think the town should be adopting ordinances that are at odds with the greater goal of making the town more friendly for nonvehicular transportation, pointing out that the 2023 Washoe County Tahoe Transportation Plan specifically calls many of Incline Village’s trails “multi-use” and outlines plans to enforce speed limits — but not an e-bike ban. 

Officials said the policy will ultimately make cycling — and running, walking, or otherwise moving throughout Incline Village without a car — safer and easier for more people. But for Buxton and other residents, many of whom he said have been supportive of his concerns, it’s a diversion step. It could also impact tourism in the town, as there are no less than half a dozen companies in town who rent e-bikes to visitors. Many of those visitors may choose to drive to popular Sand Harbor State Park instead of cycling if they think they may get forced into the road. 

All parties acknowledge an important need to curb speeding on e-bikes and maintain safe sidewalks. But with county law enforcement publicly stating that the ordinance states “no motorized apparatus or e-bicycles on the trails,” the language does allow for a near-ban, even if officials said that’s not how they plan to enforce it. 

Buxton said he’s not planning to do much more beyond starting community discussions, at least until some of Incline Village’s political issues play out (there are a series of recall petitions and appeals to remove two of the town’s elected trustees). After that, he said, he’ll reconsider how to move forward and work with officials to look at alternate solutions. 

He also pointed out a potential conflict in the plan: the sheriff department’s new e-bikes.

“How will they enforce this if they’re not allowed on the paths? And if they’re allowed on the paths, how come they are but everybody else can’t?” he said.