Fort Bragg Picked a Coastal Trail Speed Limit Over an E-Bike Ban. Past the Pudding Creek Trestle, the Rules Change.

On the paved path along Noyo Headlands, the Fort Bragg City Council has decided the type of bike doesn't matter. On October 26 it voted 5-0 to introduce an ordinance that sets a 15-mph limit for every rider on the Coastal Trail and requires riders to yield to people on foot. That same vote dropped an earlier plan to ban the fastest e-bikes.

Ride north past Glass Beach toward MacKerricher State Park and that logic flips. California State Parks lists the MacKerricher Haul Road as open to Class 1 e-bikes, and its columns for Class 2 and Class 3 are blank. If the city ordinance passes its second vote, anyone who rides the coast as a single route will be under both systems on the same morning.

How a Class 3 Ban Became a Speed Limit

The ban had real momentum at first. The city's Community Development Committee took up the issue at what the staff report calls a "well-attended" meeting on September 11. It recommended a 15-mph cap, a ban on Class 3 e-bikes, and signs at every trail entrance announcing that ban. The committee did not agree on whether scooters and skateboards should be banned too.

The first draft followed that recommendation. Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes would have stayed legal, and Class 3 e-bikes and all motorized scooters would have been banned in every city park. The Mendocino Voice explained the difference: Class 3 e-bikes assist riders up to 28 mph, and Class 1 and Class 2 motors stop helping at 20 mph.

The draft fell apart at the October 13 hearing. According to the Voice, Council member Tess Albin-Smith questioned naming vehicles in the ordinance at all:

"Why are we listing which vehicles? Because I think we're going to date ourselves. We didn't have e-bikes when this original ordinance was passed, and now we do, and there might be something in the future."

Council member Scott Hockett called a Class 3 ban "an enforcement nightmare," the Voice reported. Council member Lindy Peters still supported banning Class 3 bikes "for now." He noted that a phone app can make Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes go faster, and that the city could rely on what the state has already done. Asked whether police have much trouble with scooters and e-bikes in town, Police Chief Eric Swift told the council, "No, we don't get a lot of complaints of any of those."

That doesn't quite match the city's own consultant report, which says the city has received "a number of complaints" about high speeds from some e-bike riders. The same report says the trail has seen "limited conflict" among its user groups over the past 11 years, and it points to regular cyclists as well as e-bike riders as the speeders. Neither account cites a particular crash. The council read the problem as fast riding, whatever the vehicle, and the October 26 staff report records that direction almost word for word: "Speedy behavior is more the issue than the type of vehicle used."

What the October 26 Version Says

The rewritten ordinance, prepared by contract planner Marie Jones, took out everything that named specific vehicles. The October 26 staff report lists these changes:

• The section defining e-bike classes is gone.
• The section that allowed only Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes now allows all e-bikes.
• The ban on Class 3 e-bikes and motorized scooters in city parks is gone.
• Drones, gliders and other flying machines are banned in city parks unless the Director of Public Works approves them.
• A single 15-mph limit applies to all equipment on the Coastal Trail.
• A new section requires everyone on wheels to yield to pedestrians and slow to 10 mph when passing them.

Gas-powered vehicles stay banned. The council direction recorded in the staff report also keeps electric skateboards and scooters on the multi-use trail, subject only to the overall speed limit.

The passing speed is the one number still undecided. The Mendocino Voice reported that Mayor Jason Godeke proposed lowering it from 10 mph to 5, and other council members spoke in favor before the 5-0 vote. Whether 5 mph is in the text that comes back for the second vote will show when the final ordinance is posted.

Where the City's Rule Stops

The Mendocino Land Trust describes the city route as a paved, eight-foot-wide, ADA-accessible multi-use trail. Its northern entry is at the west end of Elm Street near Glass Beach, and its southern entry is at the west end of Cypress Street, just north of the Noyo Bridge. The trail connects north to MacKerricher State Park and south to Pomo Bluffs. The north segment opened in February 2015 and the south segment in December 2015. The 2012 Coastal Conservancy plan put the trail's northern anchor at the Pudding Creek Trestle.

Fort Bragg's Chapter 9.68 covers city parks. North of the city trail, the California State Parks e-bike policy has been in effect since August 27, 2021. State park units not on its list allow e-bikes only on roads open to street-legal vehicles. MacKerricher is on the list, with one location open to one class of e-bike.

The approach Fort Bragg rejected as unenforceable in town is already in place a short ride north. Peters made the same point when he argued for the city to lean on what the state had already done. The council went another way, so if the ordinance is adopted, the Coastal Trail and the Haul Road will treat the same bike differently.

What the Trail Will Look Like

Since the new rule is about speed, signs will do most of the work. Jones recommended putting the posts on the trail's eastern side, with two signs per post carrying the same message for riders coming from either direction, to cut down on visual clutter. The council also asked for "share the trail" and "bikes yield to pedestrians" messaging, plus a speed-limit sign near the wastewater treatment facility. The Voice reported that Jones also summarized the direction as including "share the trail" painted on the path itself and more education.

The staff report estimates costs at around $100 per sign and $250 per sign for labor and materials. Rewriting the municipal code would take about $1,000 in consultant time. Speed-limit signs with built-in solar speed displays are listed as an alternative at about $600 each, placed at the two spots with the steepest downhill slope. That idea came from public comment, where people pointed out that many riders don't know how fast they're going.

The same comment record lists other trail issues the ordinance doesn't address:

1. A suggested 10-mph zone from the Glass Beach parking lot to Glass Beach because of heavy foot traffic.
2. Unenforced leash laws, which commenters said add to safety problems.
3. Upkeep of the gravel footpath in places, and pampas grass coming back.
4. Trail users who are hard of hearing or speak other languages, for whom a bell or "on your left" doesn't always work.
5. Opposition to speed bumps, because they would make the trail harder to use for in-line skaters and people with walkers or wheelchairs.

The committee had already advised against speed bumps and against limiting e-bike use on weekends. Staff reached out to the riding group Seniors on Bikes about the hearing. According to the Voice, one resident at the October 13 hearing said he got back into riding with a local senior cycling group after a friend suggested an e-bike.

When It Takes Effect

The ordinance needs a second council vote before it takes effect. The October 26 agenda lists Monday, November 9 as the council's next regular meeting. Agendas and the ordinance text are posted on the City of Fort Bragg's Legistar portal. The earlier draft said it would take effect 30 days after passage. Until the adopted version is posted, the rules described here are proposed, and the Haul Road follows the State Parks list.

This post is general information about public rules, not legal advice. Check the posted ordinance and the State Parks page for the trail you plan to ride.

Wyatt Postal and Merge Real Estate track Fort Bragg council decisions alongside the rest of the Mendocino Coast. If you're an agent who wants to publish this kind of local coverage under your own name, Launch Your Brand with Merge.