Two former city leaders asked the Colorado Springs City Council to place a public vote about e-bike access on city parkland on the April ballot.

Colorado Springs has been debating for months about whether to begin allowing battery and electric-powered bikes onto trails that are reserved for non-motorized vehicles through the city Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOPS) program.

During the public comment period of Tuesday’s City Council meeting, prominent former council members Richard Skorman and Wayne Williams said that any change to the voter-enacted TOPS program is required to be made by a ballot measure.

City staff previously said that a ballot question would be required to expand e-bike access. Last fall, a new proposal from the mayor’s office instead proposed changing the city code to define certain classes of e-bikes as a non-motorized vehicle, which would then be allowed on TOPS properties.

“Those changes in technology don’t allow us to bypass the provisions on TABOR and bypass the provisions of the TOPS issue,” Williams said.

Williams said he and other TOPS supporters have already spoken to city staff to draft potential language for a ballot measure. Skorman said he understood the bike’s popularity on some trails but felt they should stay out of protected open spaces.

The City Council heard a presentation on the e-bike classification ordinance in early December. A date has not been announced for a final vote on the ordinance.

Any potential ballot measure would need to be approved by the end of January in order to appear on the April 1 ballot.