The Tucson City Council unanimously approved changes to the bicycle and motor vehicle land-use code at their meeting last night.
The meeting had a very different tone than two weeks ago when bike advocates and developers were at odds about the number and location of bicycle racks.
At the meeting last night, however, both developers and advocates urged the council to pass the the new rules and praised the process.
Tucson-Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee and Living Streets Alliance member Kylie Walzak participated in the meeting last week that led to the consensus on the bicycle parking issues. She told the council last night that she is relatively new to the public process, but was impressed with the dedication, thoughtfulness and civility displayed in creating a code that both cyclists and developers could be happy with.
Developer and member of the land use committee, Jason Wong, echoed Walzak’s sentiments and said he was happy with the new code and urged the council to pass it.
In addition to the new bicycle parking rules, the code will also reduce the required number of automobile parking spaces, which is why Councilwoman Regina Romero said it was so important to make sure customers could access businesses using alternate transportation modes like bicycles.
While the battle over the proposed changes largely focused on preventing the land use committee from weakening the existing rules already in place, some improvements were added into the code. Developers will be required to space the racks out in shopping centers with multiple businesses. The code also adds additional options for long-term parking that might better utilized than bicycle lockers.
City staff stressed that the new code only affects new developments and not existing businesses.
This sounds like good news to bicyclists, except the article doesn’t answer the most important question: What ARE the new bicycle parking rules?
My last understanding was that all bicyclists were up in arms about the proposed changes, but no it sounds it’s all hunky-dory. Confused…
This sounds like good news to bicyclists, except the article doesn’t answer the most important question: What ARE the new bicycle parking rules?
My last understanding was that bicyclists were up in arms about the proposed changes, but now it sounds it’s all hunky-dory. Confused…
If I were a local business with a storefront, office, what-have-you, I think I’d want to welcome bicyclists. Why? Because those bicyclists spend money. Lots of it. They’re also very loyal, especially when they find that their parking needs are taken care of in a way that doesn’t turn them into second-class citizens.
Since our local solar-powered businesses are already starting to toot their sunny horns, it’s time for our local bicycle-friendly businesses to do the same. Start advertising the heck out of your bicycle-friendliness and see what it does for your bottom line.
Hi, Daniel,
I wrote about it a few times so rather than rehash it I decided to link to the article instead. Here is the direct link: http://tucsonvelo.com/news/group-hammers-out-bike-parking-details/6396
The Walgreens at 3200 E. Speedway (Speedway/Country Club) seems to get it. The bike racks are just outside the front doors along with handicapped parking and can’t miss ’em yellow lines…in other words, “non-handicapped motorists, stay out.” And folks seem to abide by it. The thing is, this store was built a year or so ago and you’ve got to figure the corporate concept goes back what, maybe four years given all the seemingly endless debate and research (“costing it out”) that goes into constructing cookie cutter implementations. It’s unlikely Walgreens gave any thought to reactionaries such as “Koz” or the minidorm developer.
That Walgreen’s is a rare example of great bike parking. We have a neighborhood activist and the Ward 6 office (Trassoff) staff to thank for that particular example. The sad fact of the matter is that bike parking at Walgreen’s is usually placed 80 feet away at the edge of a development, even though they have room to place the racks within 50 feet.
Aw, come on, Paul, everyone knows that healthy people aren’t supposed to go to Walgreens. So why should they put bicycle parking anywhere on the premises?
Oh, wait a minute. There’s that Walgreens on Speedway. I like to shop there for good deals on household supplies.
Anyone seen this ADS article yet? done by Rob O’Dell;
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_dcbf2298-8b04-524e-80b5-c0cdd5405069.html
check out the comment section! many of haters need to be TD