After nearly a year of public input on the issue, the Marin Municipal Water District is considering revising its electronic bike restrictions in the Mount Tamalpais watershed.

The district board of directors will host a public forum in Corte Madera on Dec. 11 at which people can provide feedback and learn more about e-bikes, trails and current rules. The forum is set for 6 to 8 p.m. at the Corte Madera Community Center, 498 Tamalpais Drive.

“We’re doing our due diligence to explore all the pros and cons of allowing e-bikes on fire roads,” said Crystal Yezman, the district’s facilities and watershed division manager. “We also want to maintain consistency among the other local jurisdictions.”

The district has not allowed e-bikes since 2011 when it adopted a prohibition on motorized bicycles. In light of recent concerns raised by the public, the district recently began allowing exceptions if bike riders say they are using it because of a disability, according to Yezman.

Despite the district putting up signs earlier this year informing users of the e-bike restrictions, district rangers contact about 10 e-bike users per week on the watershed. Most of these riders are repeat contacts and most are claiming to be using the bike as an Americans with Disabilities Act accommodation, according to Yezman.

Brett Thurber, co-owner of the The New Wheel e-bike shops in Larkspur and San Francisco, is calling for the district to treat bicycles the same way the state has since 2016 — as traditional bikes — and to allow them to operate on fire roads within the watersheds.

State law passed in 2015 says Class I e-bikes — which can hit a top speed of 20 mph — are not motorized vehicles, but it also allows public agencies to restrict the operation of the bikes on paths or trails.

Thurber said the district’s practice of only allowing people with disabilities to use e-bikes is problematic and makes a mockery of the situation if someone can just claim to have a disability similar to a way someone can claim to have an illness just to get access to medical cannabis. He says that there are many people who are not disabled who use e-bikes because they cannot operate a traditional bike as well as their counterparts.

“The fire roads in Marin County are a wonderful place for people to be outdoors and get comfortable cycling,” Thurber said. “It’s a real shame to restrict that to only the fit and only people who have a disability. That’s not the Marin County way.”

In a recent letter to the editor, North Bay Elder Ebikers president and San Rafael resident Art Silberman called e-bikes one of the “best ways to combine health exercise with outdoor fun.”

“With the advent of the pedal-assisted electric bicycle, cycling is now more readily available to older adults whose reduced agility and strength may have deterred them from continuing to ride regular bikes,” Silberman wrote.

The solution to all these issues, Thurber said, is to allow e-bikes on fire roads, just like mountain bikes. Thurber said many of the claims made by those opposing e-bike use on the watershed — such as increased fire risk, erosion, tarnishing the natural tranquility and risk of collisions — are over-exaggerated or prevent a minor risk.

Linda Novy, president of the Marin Conservation League, is calling for the district to take a cautious approach when considering allowing e-bike use.

“The intensification of recreational use on natural resources by ‘opening the door’ to this new ‘user group’ would have significant impacts on ranger capabilities to manage visitor behavior; the quality and potentially, the safety, of slower visitors, and on the fire roads’ tread and maintenance needs; and on wildlife,” Novy wrote in a statement.

“Beyond the increase in use, with more e-bike riders able to ride further, they could push into the wilder parts of our public lands where wildlife may seek refuge from human intrusion. This disturbance would be exacerbated if the e-bike riders ride at night with the bright headlamps.”

Yezman said that increased use of rangers’ time is another issue identified by the district.

“For us, we see it as a resource issue if we have people going further out that are less experienced,” Yezman said. “They could run into trouble.”

Thurber said considering fire risk is a legitimate concern. But in the case of e-bikes, he said the risk is minimal. The companies manufacturing e-bikes, he said, are not “fly-by-night” companies that would risk sales by putting out a faulty, unregulated product.

The main risks of fires connected to e-bikes, he said, are when the e-bike is charging, but there currently is no consideration about building charging stations on district land. Even then, he said, it poses just as much risk as charging a computer.

Novy said while some of the recently made e-bikes will likely not pose much of a fire threat, she is concerned that makeshift e-bikes could.

“I think MMWD has the meeting very well-organized and that it will help lead to a serious and thorough process,” she said. “I don’t think they’re going to rush into anything.”