Just prior to what appears to be a halt of CodeNEXT, a cohort of cycling enthusiasts showed up at Monday’s Bicycle Advisory Council meeting to demand that the city’s Land Development Code show some bike parking love. Their resolution – which is still a draft, pending the next meeting – calls for five bicycle parking spaces at every business, or one bicycle space for every 20 auto spaces, whichever number is greater; for the city to waive minimum parking requirements in exchange for bike corrals; and for more bike parking at bars, breweries and night clubs and the option to remove all general-use parking spaces at those establishments. Are these demands so unreasonable when Austin faces an onslaught of dockless bicycles, stressing the existing bicycle parking like never before? And a shortage of automobile parking, too? “You can fit a lot more bicycles in one car space,” said one attendee. The consensus was that the resolution should ask for even more parking: “I think maybe the percentage should be higher, but I’m not sure what that should be.” The council agreed to research bicycle parking requirements in other cities. The city of Portland, Oregon, was tossed around as a potential model.
Maybe in the next process?
