St. Charles Horse-Drawn Carriages Ordinance Before Council

When it meets next, the St. Charles City Council will consider a new ordinance to allow as many as two horse-drawn carriage vendors to operate at a time in town.

Police Chief James Lamkin said the need for the ordinance arose when a vendor made inquiries about starting such a business in the downtown area.

“Because we did not have any regulations for this, before we brought this to you we wanted to prepare an ordinance … so we would have something that outlines the kinds of controls that would be in place,” Lamkin told the St. Charles City Council, which met Monday evening as the council’s Government Services Committee. “They’re designed so that we can make this, I guess, the safest situation as possible having something like this operating on the streets.”

Lamkin said the department took into consideration the vendor’s request and looked at ordinances in other cities as models for what has been drafted for St. Charles.

The ordinance would allow no more than two vendors to operate in town per year and sets two suggested routes that aim to minimize any disruption to traffic, particularly on Main Street. Further,

The routes are similar to those used by the stagecoach attraction during Scarecrow Fest:

One route option starts on the north end of 1st Street, crosses the Main Street bridge, then turns south onto Riverside Avenue, going down to Prairie Street and crossing the river again on its bridge, before heading north on 1st Street and returning to the staging area.

A second alternative route would start on the north end of 1st Street but head south, cross the river eastbound on the Prairie Street bridge, turn north on Riverside Avenue and then westbound on Illinois Street, returning to the starting point on 1st Street.

The council committee’s executive summary of the matter notes that the routes are intended for use by the horse and sleigh/carriage in use for this year’s Holiday Homecoming, which began on Friday.

The proposed ordinance, Lamkin said, gives the police department some latitude in imposing any limits the city might feel are safe and necessary.

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