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Readers Support Proposed Bike Parking Ordinance

February 8, 2012 Bicycling, Zoning 16 Comments

ABOVE: Bike parking on the campus of Washington University

Readers overwhelmingly support a bill before the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to require bike parking for some projects:

A proposed law would require bike parking for new construction or renovations in access excess of $1 million dollars. Auto parking requirements would be reduced.

  1. Great, more bike parking is needed 44 [50%]
  2. A good start, but it doesn’t go far enough 18 [20.45%]
  3. Ugh, more government regulation 16 [18.18%]
  4. Other: 9 [10.23%]
  5. Unsure/No Opinion 1 [1.14%]

I had a stupid mistake in the poll, corrected above, and a few of the other votes pointed that out:

  1. A good first step; besides handicapped parking there should be no reqirements
  2. don’t you mean “in excess?”
  3. What comes first demand or supply?
  4. need more bike lanes and paths first…
  5. Like the bike part, but no reduction for cars
  6. excess =/= access. We need more accessible and safe biking paths first.
  7. How about an option for not a good idea?????
  8. excess, not access
  9. Security is a MAJOR concern of those who use bike racks. Theft is a conern.

The 20% that said this bill is a good start but it doesn’t go far enough are correct, the number of projects in excess of $1 million dollars are few.The amount of verbiage to describe what is required in the context of our tired & old use-based zoning code is a nightmare to read and understand. Take a few minutes and read any section of Title 26 (Zoning) and you will quickly realize it’s easy to get lost in the cross references and lists of prohibitions all the while you don’t get an image of what’s actually desired.

Instead of trying to improve the city by amending our 1947 zoning code to current standards we need to toss it out completely and start over with a form-bsased code that is easy to read and understand.

- Steve Patterson

  • Anonymous

    OK, so “we need to toss [our 1947 zoning code] out completely and start over with a form-based code that is easy to read and understand.”  How do we get there?  In Denver, among other things, they invested in creating bicycle and pedestrian master plans for the city, and have continued to update and refine them for the last quarter century: http://www.denvergov.org/bikeprogram/BicyclinginDenver/StreetsandTrails/Planning/tabid/438250/Default.aspx   They were critical components in their new form-based zoning code, but they didn’t happen overnight.

    Yes, this is a small, tentative step in the right direction for St. Louis, but like many other things, it’s a tiny, fragmented “solution”, much like “investing” money in brick gateways and decorative streetlights at random locations around the city.  Yes, we have the really big goal of making the city more bicycle friendly, and yes, we have been investing money in painting new bike lanes and sharrows, but have we identified the missing links and prioritized their elimination?   I’m old enough to remember when the interstate highway system wasn’t complete, when the freeway just ended, and everyone was funnelled back onto the old two-lane highway; our current city bike “system” isn’t much different.

    How are we going to create more bike parking options in established business districts?  Will the city fund and install more racks or will businesses be given incentives other than parking ratios to install racks?  Will the implementation vary ward by ward?  Or, will the entire city be upgraded consistently?  And how will the city’s efforts be integrated with the dozens of surrounding jurisdictions in the county?  We have Trailnet and Bike St. Louis, among others, advocating for cyclists, but are the Streets Dept., Planning Dept., MoDOT and our aldermen all on board?  For cycling to be embraced as a viable alternative, we need to have an integrated system, not just a bunch of random band-aids!

    http://www.recycledcycles.net/ccentral/ccgroups.html

  • JZ71

    OK, so “we need to toss [our 1947 zoning code] out completely and start over with a form-based code that is easy to read and understand.”  How do we get there?  In Denver, among other things, they invested in creating bicycle and pedestrian master plans for the city, and have continued to update and refine them for the last quarter century: http://www.denvergov.org/bikeprogram/BicyclinginDenver/StreetsandTrails/Planning/tabid/438250/Default.aspx   They were critical components in their new form-based zoning code, but they didn’t happen overnight.

    Yes, this is a small, tentative step in the right direction for St. Louis, but like many other things, it’s a tiny, fragmented “solution”, much like “investing” money in brick gateways and decorative streetlights at random locations around the city.  Yes, we have the really big goal of making the city more bicycle friendly, and yes, we have been investing money in painting new bike lanes and sharrows, but have we identified the missing links and prioritized their elimination?   I’m old enough to remember when the interstate highway system wasn’t complete, when the freeway just ended, and everyone was funnelled back onto the old two-lane highway; our current city bike “system” isn’t much different.

    How are we going to create more bike parking options in established business districts?  Will the city fund and install more racks or will businesses be given incentives other than parking ratios to install racks?  Will the implementation vary ward by ward?  Or, will the entire city be upgraded consistently?  And how will the city’s efforts be integrated with the dozens of surrounding jurisdictions in the county?  We have Trailnet and Bike St. Louis, among others, advocating for cyclists, but are the Streets Dept., Planning Dept., MoDOT and our aldermen all on board?  For cycling to be embraced as a viable alternative, we need to have an integrated system, not just a bunch of random band-aids!

    http://www.recycledcycles.net/ccentral/ccgroups.html

    • Douglas Duckworth

      Philly recently passed a new zoning code while Baltimore is at their second draft. Saint Louis has to first realize it needs to change. Other cities are moving way ahead.

      The system should be implemented first in areas of high density and excess road capacity.

  • http://twitter.com/ward24stl Scott Ogilvie

    Sure, an integrated system would be best, but we don’t quite have that at the moment. We do have a new Regional Bike Master plan endorsed by East-West Gateway, which does do some of the things you mentioned in terms of building an integrated network of on street routes. Of course, implementation will most be on a municipality by municipality basis. On the other hand, Great Rivers Greenway is building an integrated regional off street network that depends less upon individual jurisdictions, and works with the on street routes. In St. Louis, we are currently looking at ways to fund and maintain an expanded on street system.

    As far as bike parking goes, this bill will go a long way towards providing parking at the point of use in St. Louis. There isn’t much we can do with the rest of the region unless they take up the same issue. We are going to be rolling out racks at Municipal buildings this year, and I think you will see them in more parks in the coming years. We are lacking in bike parking for business districts. Streetscape projects can pick up some slack there, and the Streets Dept. is investigating on street bike corrals, although the Treasurer’s Office (Parking Div.) is the holdup there.

    Scott Ogilvie
    24th Ward Ald.

  • http://twitter.com/ward24stl Scott Ogilvie

    Sure, an integrated system would be best, but we don’t quite have that at the moment. We do have a new Regional Bike Master plan endorsed by East-West Gateway, which does do some of the things you mentioned in terms of building an integrated network of on street routes. Of course, implementation will most be on a municipality by municipality basis. On the other hand, Great Rivers Greenway is building an integrated regional off street network that depends less upon individual jurisdictions, and works with the on street routes. In St. Louis, we are currently looking at ways to fund and maintain an expanded on street system.

    As far as bike parking goes, this bill will go a long way towards providing parking at the point of use in St. Louis. There isn’t much we can do with the rest of the region unless they take up the same issue. We are going to be rolling out racks at Municipal buildings this year, and I think you will see them in more parks in the coming years. We are lacking in bike parking for business districts. Streetscape projects can pick up some slack there, and the Streets Dept. is investigating on street bike corrals, although the Treasurer’s Office (Parking Div.) is the holdup there.

    Scott Ogilvie
    24th Ward Ald.

    • JZ71

      Thanks for the thoughtful response.  One observation – when my bike and I go to a park, it’s almost always to ride, not to park, so I’d like to know more about where in the parks racks are actually planned.  I can see where adding some at the zoo and the museums would make sense, as well as at rec centers and basketball courts, but just scattering them around like park benches would seem to make little sense.  (Again, it’s that master plan concept – we have limited resources, so let’s use them wisely, and don’t just do something, in isolation, to be doing something.)

    • Mike

      Scott: Why don’t you expand on your comment about the Parking Division? Can you please provide specifics?

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the thoughtful response.  One observation – when my bike and I go to a park, it’s almost always to ride, not to park, so I’d like to know more about where in the parks racks are actually planned.  I can see where adding some at the zoo and the museums would make sense, as well as at rec centers and basketball courts, but just scattering them around like park benches would seem to make little sense.  (Again, it’s that master plan concept – we have limited resources, so let’s use them wisely, and don’t just do something, in isolation, to be doing something.)

  • Douglas Duckworth

    Philly recently passed a new zoning code while Baltimore is at their second draft. Saint Louis has to first realize it needs to change. Other cities are moving way ahead.

    The system should be implemented first in areas of high density and excess road capacity.

  • Mike

    The problem with bike racks is that security cables can easily be cut and the bike can quickly be stolen. Case in point: two weeks after the renovated City building (Abrams) was opened, one of the health dept. executives rode her bike to work, and it was stolen the first day. The bike was left secured using a substantial cable, but it takes only a few seconds to steal a bike. Bikes can cost thousands, and those who ride them daily are more likely to spend thousands vs. hundreds, making it even more important to locate the rack under a video camera or near a guard station. Unless the bikes are secure, riders will quickly lose interest.

  • Mike

    The problem with bike racks is that security cables can easily be cut and the bike can quickly be stolen. Case in point: two weeks after the renovated City building (Abrams) was opened, one of the health dept. executives rode her bike to work, and it was stolen the first day. The bike was left secured using a substantial cable, but it takes only a few seconds to steal a bike. Bikes can cost thousands, and those who ride them daily are more likely to spend thousands vs. hundreds, making it even more important to locate the rack under a video camera or near a guard station. Unless the bikes are secure, riders will quickly lose interest.

    • Douglas Duckworth

      Don’t use a ‘cable’ or ‘chain.’ No one is going to cut through a kryptonite lock in a few seconds. Also don’t have quick release wheels and bolt down the seat. A good bike shop will do this for you. Bike racks are safe if you use them correctly and don’t park in a dark alley.

      I’ve probably lost 10 pounds biking every day. People should do it as it’s also really fun going faster than a car when they’re in a traffic jam.

  • Mike

    Scott: Why don’t you expand on your comment about the Parking Division? Can you please provide specifics?

  • http://twitter.com/ward24stl Scott Ogilvie

    JZ71 – The plan for racks in parks is (hopefully) going to be implemented alongside the other park improvements being planned as part of the park’s bond issue. The idea is that parks with amenities (tennis courts, playgrounds, playing fields, etc) will get a rack or racks when other improvements are made. Implementation is going to depend on the Parks Dept. The distribution of racks at municipal buildings is currently being worked out.Mike – The Parking Div. (under the Treasurer) doesn’t want to give up on street parking for bike corrals because it costs them meter revenue. Its an issue of two branches (Mayor / Treasurer) with different goals.

  • http://twitter.com/ward24stl Scott Ogilvie

    JZ71 – The plan for racks in parks is (hopefully) going to be implemented alongside the other park improvements being planned as part of the park’s bond issue. The idea is that parks with amenities (tennis courts, playgrounds, playing fields, etc) will get a rack or racks when other improvements are made. Implementation is going to depend on the Parks Dept. The distribution of racks at municipal buildings is currently being worked out.Mike – The Parking Div. (under the Treasurer) doesn’t want to give up on street parking for bike corrals because it costs them meter revenue. Its an issue of two branches (Mayor / Treasurer) with different goals.

  • Douglas Duckworth

    Don’t use a ‘cable’ or ‘chain.’ No one is going to cut through a kryptonite lock in a few seconds. Also don’t have quick release wheels and bolt down the seat. A good bike shop will do this for you. Bike racks are safe if you use them correctly and don’t park in a dark alley.

    I’ve probably lost 10 pounds biking every day. People should do it as it’s also really fun going faster than a car when they’re in a traffic jam.

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