STALLINGS -- An ordinance allowing Stallings residents to drive golf carts on neighborhood roads was voted down in September, but is up for reconsideration Monday. Some council members said the initial proposal contained too many restrictions.

“The main reason we’re bringing it back is because that’s what the community wants,” Councilman Wyatt Dunn said. Mayor Lynda Paxton said there was “outcry from the community when we didn’t pass it,” although many locals were not in favor of some of its limitations.

Residents of Shannamara and Emerald Lake — both of which have golf courses — have a particular interest, Dunn said, and claim a handful of reasons for using their carts.

Since Union County Public Schools cut some of its bus stops to save gas, parents in Emerald Lake use golf carts to transport students to pick-up locations. This saves them gas as well, they say. Others drive golf carts to the pool in the summer.

Some residents have been driving golf carts through their subdivisions for months, but town officials say an ordinance is necessary to make it legal.

The Town Council unanimously denied the original ordinance, which called for golf carts to be both registered and inspected by the Police Department.

Dunn said it would have been too difficult to enforce and “cumbersome” for police officers. Dunn is in favor of a revised ordinance that eliminates the need for registration and inspection.

If adopted, an ordinance would still require golf cart operators to be at least 16 years of age with a valid driver’s license. Carts could be driven on roads with a 25 mph or less speed limit and must stay on the right edge of the road. They must have working headlights and turning signals and cannot exceed the maximum passenger capacity.

Other residents are still concerned about permitting such an ordinance, saying it isn’t safe to allow golf carts on subdivision roads.

If implemented, Paxton said, the ordinance would apply to all town residents.

The topic is open for discussion only. The public is invited to comment at the beginning of the meeting, and both Paxton and Dunn expect that some people will.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, located at 315 Stallings Road.