Commerce City lawmakers moved forward this week on creating an ordinance to hold parents responsible for minors unlawfully riding off-highway vehicles, an ordinance similar to one recently passed in Aurora.

Councilmembers voted unanimously to direct the city manager and city attorney’s office to research and prepare a draft ordinance.

Councilmember Charles Dukes, who initiated the move, said he has heard concerns over the past year about kids riding dirt bikes, ATVs, e-bikes and other off-highway vehicles on streets and sidewalks “in really unsafe ways.”

Dukes presented the request to the council Monday and got unanimous approval.

The request directs the city manager and city attorney to draft an ordinance establishing that parents or legal guardians may be held responsible and subject to fines if they “knowingly permit or fail to prevent their minor child from operating these vehicles in violation of state law or city ordinance,” according to council documents.

The ordinance would “promote public safety, reduce nuisance activity on city streets and public spaces and ensure parents and guardians are engaged in preventing unlawful vehicle use by minors,” according to the request.

Commerce City Mayor Steve Douglas pointed to the similar ordinance in Aurora, requesting that the city manager and attorney also look to that ordinance in their research.

Aurora city lawmakers approved their ordinance in late September, adding a $250 fee for parents and guardians of minors caught riding dirt bikes in the city.

Per the new ordinance, Aurora parents are charged if their children are found riding vehicles that are not street legal in Aurora.

The idea behind the ordinance is to give police the ability to enforce city code when it comes to minors, who would previously just get a warning and no further punishment for riding non-street legal vehicles.

“This is all about safety,” Aurora Councilmember Francoise Bergan, who sponsored the ordinance, said. “It’s a dangerous situation to have young kids out there in the roads with trucks and vehicles, so we want to prevent any kinds of accidents.”

Aurora Police Officer Steve Spanos said off-highway vehicles have become “such a problem” citywide.

“My emails and phone messages, 60% of them revolve around these dirt bikes,” Spanos said. “Per our statute … they’re not allowed anywhere in our city. Not in our parks, not in our neighborhoods, not on our streets. It has certainly risen to a level of concern.”