Volusia County’s largest city made a sweeping change recently, banning youths from riding e-bikes and similar devices on its sidewalks and streets.
Two weeks later, on Aug. 3, the Deltona City Commission reversed that ordinance after Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood, whose agency polices the city, said he would not enforce the new city law.
Mayor Santiago Avila Jr., said he had a long conversation with Chitwood on July 31 — the same day Chitwood held a press conference on the matter. The mayor requested commissioners suspend the ordinance’s age restrictions on use of electric bikes, scooters, and other micromobility devices.
“My concern was at 15½ you can get a learner’s permit and drive a car,” Avila said. “And I get that we’re not driving on sidewalks and all that, but you’re also telling the same kids that have their learner’s permits and driver’s licenses that you can’t drive your e-bikes anywhere.”
Commissioners backed him up with a 7-0 vote after some discussion.
Commissioner Maritza Avila-Vasquez said commissioners should meet in a workshop including input from the Sheriff’s Offce to discuss the best policy.
“We are trying to do something that the sheriff’s department is not going to enforce at all. So we’re putting all these rules out there. Who’s going to enforce them?” she said. “Code enforcement can’t do that.”
Cities including Deltona and DeLand have enacted ordinances around electronic bikes and scooters popular with young people after crashes, such as one in 2025 that left a 15-year-old girl dead in DeLand. Deltona commissioners expressed safety concerns not just for children on e-bikes, but others around them, such as people on sidewalks and in public parks.
Sheriff’s office was asked for input on ordinance prior to July 20 passage
Commissioner Dori Howington, who said her child was hit by a car while riding on a bike, questioned the value of passing ordinances sheriff’s deputies won’t enforce.
“We’re paying $16 million a year to have enforcement of our ordinances, as opposed to having our own police department, so it would be nice to know what is being enforced,” Howington said. “Or are we just up here creating ordinances that are pointless?”
She said the staff needs to get with the sheriff to find out how involved his deputies can be with regard to the safe use of micromobile devices.
Zackery Good, the Deltona city attorney, said an effort was made to get input from law enforcement.
“That is something that we attempted to reach out, and unfortunately we did not receive a response prior to adoption of the ordinance,” Good said .”Hopefully now that this has become a more public issue, we’ll be able to work more collaboratively with the sheriff and his counsel to craft revisions that the sheriff will feel are more enforceable.”
Sheriff’s Office working with school district on e-bike safety
Chitwood declined to comment to The News-Journal in an Aug. 4 text message.
“What am I going to do, put a roadblock up outside of a school?” Chitwood told other media outlets at a news conference last week. The Sheriff’s Office has stopped inviting The News-Journal to its news conferences.
Chitwood has said he would instead work collaboratively with Volusia County Schools on the e-bike issue.
The district launched a new e-bike safety course for students.
Students who take e-bikes to school must register and complete the safety course.
Deltona resident had questioned enforceability
Deltona commissioners voted 7-0 on July 20 to enact the new restrictions on micromobility devices, which also covers mopeds and motorized scooters, after lawmakers gave them that authority in 2025.
The Deltona ordinance exempted devices for people with disabilities.
During the July 20 Deltona meeting, Avila asked about having the city’s ordinance review committee examine the proposal. The ordinance review body had only recently been installed.
But other commissioners said it was important to move forward.
Commissioner Chris Nabicht said the ordinance was needed “immediately” in July.
Commissioner Davison Heriot said he had seen an e-motorcycle riding on Howland Boulevard — one of Deltona’s busiest thoroughfares — at 9 p.m. without lights.
“This is a significant issue with our city. We need to put some guardrails on,” Heriot said.
Howington said the ordinance could use “more teeth,” but supported its passage on July 20.
“This has been out there for six to eight months, so we need to move forward,” Howington said.
Resident Kathy Bryan told commissioners the ordinance should be more “meaty,” with helmet use part of the consideration.
“Have we worked with the Sheriff’s Office to make sure it can be enforced? And make sure that they’re not riding these things where other motorized vehicles are not allowed,” Bryan said. “I’m glad we’re doing it, don’t get me wrong, but I think we need to do more.”
Jody Lee Storozuk, a former commissioner who is challenging Nabicht for the District 6 seat, said the ordinance should have gone before the new ordinance review committee before being passed.
“Did any of this information go through anybody’s head before you made an ordinance that couldn’t be enforced? I’m not picking on the sheriff’s department … at $16 million a year, you call them, they should call you back. … You guys look like morons on Facebook, social media.”
− Mark Harper covers politics, government, and education for The News-Journal, with a focus on Florida, mostly in Volusia County. He can be reached at mark.harper@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Deltona drops e-bike age restriction after Chitwood comments
Reporting by Mark Harper, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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By Mark Harper, Daytona Beach News-Journal | USA TODAY Network
