Paul Spraetz opened the new Resort Life Carts location near Blackstone and Herndon avenues in Fresno last week. Here he is pictured with his wife Tracy Spraetz and a furry friend. Photo contributed

A locally-owned recreation and transportation business opened its second location last week, bringing more than two decades of experience to the Fresno area.

Resort Life Carts opened last week at 47 W. Birch Ave. in Fresno, near the corners of Herndon and Blackstone avenues.

Specializing in street-legal carts, 2-, 4- and 6-seater, lifted, sport and even luxury models, Resort Life Carts opened their first store in 2022 off Highway 41 in Madera. Owner Paul Spraetz embraced the industry after moving to an area that facilitated the use of street-legal carts.

The opening of the second store will expand the business’ inventory and specialties, now including service, repair and customization.

 

“The new store is a spawn out of the success of our original store,” he said. “We also quickly have become very aware of the laws that are changing for carts as a whole being used on the street. We now are considered a fully street-legal store exclusively.”

Spraetz, who has worked in the automotive industry since he was a teenager, said that the Low Speed Vehicle (LSV) regulations allowing small electric vehicles to legally access low-speed roads has spurred a surge in the market for golf-cart and smaller street-legal recreational vehicles.

New state regulations allow for LSV-approved vehicles to use any roads with a speed limit of 35 mph or lower. Licensing requirements are the same as that for a standard, street-legal vehicle — the operator of the vehicle must possess a driver’s license and valid insurance.

“Our mentality is we’re selling small electric vehicles,” he said. “They’re becoming popular because of their mobility and their ease to drive, and they’re just fun.”

 

Besides fun, electric vehicles have become more and more common since the pandemic; after moving to Tesoro Viejo in Madera, Spraetz purchased his first electric golf cart initially as a hobby. After a short time, his neighbors took interest, some of which purchased their own LSVs.

Now, Spraetz says there is a plethora of electric LSVs in his neighborhood.

Spraetz said the interest in carting caught on on the East Coast years ago and is just now making its way to California and the West Coast.

“There’s no secret that carting has been big across the country,” he said. “During COVID, a lot of people were driven home and realized that carts were a great way to get out and have fun.”

He went on to explain that the increase in cart and LSV owners required the state to implement new laws regarding lower-speed electric and/or gas-powered vehicles.

“You do have to have a driver’s license. It is a fully-functioning car. It does get a license plate,” he said. “They’re all safety belted, high beams, low beams, turn signals, horn — all the things we’re used to having in a car, just a little ‘convertible’ version.”

The carts have a range of 30-50 miles a full charge and can retail anywhere from $6,000 to $16,000.