LA City Council To Vote On Banning Bike Sales Or Repairs On Public Property

[Scott Mace]

LA City Council To Vote On Banning Bike Sales Or Repairs On Public Property

https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/la-city-council-to-vote-on-banning-bike-sales-or-repairs-on-public-property

Scott Mace

[Frank J. Lehnerz]

Hey Alexa, please explain the "law of unintended consequences!" 

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[John Eldon]

That is my reaction, as well. The "cure" may be worse than the disease. 

[Jeff Bruchez]

Looks like the LA city council approved the resolution last night. Text for those interested: https://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2021/21-1115_ord_draft_02-28-22.pdf

Something I think would be a good measure to mitigate the distribution of stolen bikes, like it seems this limiting of bike repair on public property is after, would be to limit the number of bikes one can carry without a valid license/permit. IE, anyone carrying more than 5 bikes would need a valid "bike carriers permit" and have a log of the bicycle's, their serial numbers, and the reason for which they are carrying 6+ bikes. I think this tactic would be better than criminalizing the behavior of those unhoused who may be repairing a bike for their own uses, not necessarily repairing them with nefarious intention of distribution.

Similar exists for moving used car tires (https://calrecycle.ca.gov/Tires/Manifest/Background/), while I think that's mostly focused on the premise of insuring the tires are properly recycled, and I believe limiting the number of bikes which could be carried could be a valid tool to limiting the distribution networks that gather and redistribute bikes that are stolen, within the same market and moving them from market to market.

Just a thought, forever scheming ways to stop the hemorrhaging problem that is bike theft.

</BicycleJeffrey>

Jeffrey P Bruchez | LCI: 5291

jbru...@gmail.com | @socksinSPDsandals

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[Fastech Systems]

I own 8 bikes.  I've never carried more than 4 but if I carried them all I would be a criminal according to this scheme?

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[Ramon Zavala]

This ordinance is very poorly worded.

1. Municipalities shouldn't have custom definitions of "Bicycle" in their municipal codes. The state definition CVC 231 will take precedence. Moreover, you shouldn't create a definition just for one ordinance. (Note: Yes, the definition of "bicycle" should probably be updated along with many of the other transportation devices.)

2. The "Bicycle Part" definition is unnecessary and insufficiently comprehensive. They don't mention wheels, tires, tubes, grips, stems, brake levers, shifters, chainrings, seatposts, etc. They could be vague and say, "bicycle parts and other hardware intended to be affixed to a bicycle" and be done with it. If someone were to argue "WeLl WhAt ExAcTlY iS a BiKe PaRt?!" they would be laughed out.

3. Why define person? They could simply say, "Any person or organizational entity".

4. There are many, many homeless encampments that have been explicitly established on public land. This ordinance makes it illegal for those homeless people to repair their own bikes where they live.

5. This also makes it illegal for people to use bicycle repair stands placed on public land unless that bicycle became inoperable while being ridden on public land. Like, if you whammied your drivetrain at home and wanted to take your bike to the park one block over where there's a public bike repair stand, too bad.

6. Also, it seems to be illegal to make a transaction to sell multiple used bicycles in public due to this ordinance despite MANY suggestions by MANY municipalities to do all person-to-person transactions in a public space for your own safety.

Don't get me wrong. I understand the intent of the legislation-- they're trying to attack chop shops (organized and ad hoc). But the wording is poor and, personally, I think they'd be better off going after people who habitually resell stolen bikes (disreputable bike shops, frequent Craiglisters, etc.) than be held responsible for the unintended consequences here.

Take out the fences and you drastically reduce the reward for stealing bicycles. A bicycle being stolen for personal use is a much lesser evil to live with as compared to U-Hauls full of stolen bikes being moved around for resale by shady business owners.

Ramon

[Jeff Bruchez]

My thought is that if you're carrying bikes that you can prove ownership of, then no need for worry, permitting, or concern. But should you be carrying 5 or more (arbitrary number) and you cannot prove that you're a rightful owner of them then you could feasibly be stopped and challenged for proof of license to transport bikes. The idea would be to discourage people from aggregating bikes en masse and move them from market to market.

I can tell you that this happens in Davis, batches of stolen bikes are loaded up and moved to local aggregators who either resell them locally, or they move them through an intermediary to another market. Bike Index did a great job of digging into a ring that moves bikes from Colorado to a shop in Mexico. If there were rules around the transport of bicycles in large batches this kind of system could be systematically stopped. https://bikeindex.org/news/closing-the-loop-a-deep-dive-on-a-facebook-reseller-of-bikes-stolen-in

This would make a great case for universal adaptation of a universal free bicycle registry, akin to www.bikeindex.org.