 |
 |
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
New developments in Santa Rosa may be required to provide additional bicycle parking and showers for bicyclists under new zoning rules to be considered by the City Council on Tuesday night.
The changes are intended to make it easier for people to bike to work by increasing the amount of long-term parking that businesses must provide, especially in areas like downtown Santa Rosa.
The new rules have been in the works since 2007, when the city began drawing plans to direct development downtown in anticipation of the arrival of the SMART train.
Currently, the number of bike parking spaces at new developments is pegged to the number of vehicle parking spaces, usually 5 to 10 percent. But that wasn’t working in places like downtown, where no vehicle parking spaces are required. Instead, property owners pay into the city’s parking district.
“Basically, we don’t get new bicycle parking with new non-residential developments downtown,” said city planner Erin Morris.
And in places outside downtown, often the types of bike parking provided by businesses aren’t the right mix of spaces, Morris said.
“The current regulations provide a lot of short-term bike parking spaces that aren’t necessarily being used and don’t provide the more secure, long-term bicycle parking spaces desired by bike commuters,” Morris said.
So instead of just bike racks, future businesses or those that want to expand their buildings by more than 10 percent will have the added expense of providing long-term parking facilities. Such features could include an enclosed space for bikes or bike lockers.
For example, a 55,000-square-foot downtown building mixing office and retail currently doesn’t have to provide any bike parking. Under the new rules, it would need to provide one space for every 5,000 square feet. The makes 11 bike parking spaces, including a mixture of short- and long-term spaces.
In other cases, however, there are no changes to the number of bike parking spaces needed, and in other cases they go down, according to a staff report.
A 75,000-square-foot research and development facility currently would have to provide 25 short-term spaces for bikes, or 10 percent of the 250 vehicle spaces required. The new rules, however, require just 13 spaces, or one space per 6,000 square feet. However, the new rules require at least four of those spaces to be long-term.
The rules also address the requirements for showers. Retailers with under 100,000 square feet of space are currently exempt from providing showers and changing rooms for workers. But that number drops to 50,000 square feet under the new rules, which will result in more businesses falling under the requirement.
The proposed changes grew out of amendments to the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, which the council highlighted as a priority earlier this year. They passed the Planning Commission in August with little fanfare.
The city reached out to a few members of the real estate and development community and found little opposition to the rules, Morris said.
Subscribe by Email
Follow us on Twitter
@JeffT
If you drive to work, you expect your employer to provide a parking space. Why the double standard? Why not a parking space for a bike? Why not share the road? Bikes were around long before cars and we all pay for the roads? Seems a lot of people think they are more entitled to the road because of their mode of transport.
I can’t wait for the first cyclo-facist to sue a building owner when their bike gets stolen from the long term storage because the business owner didn’t protect them like the children they are.
A good deal of the cyclist in Santa Rosa look to be homeless and in desperate need of a shower. It would be great if that could be provided. Lets put the first one in at City Hall.
To Jim M–
In my opinion, the animosity here isn’t directed toward bicyclists, necessarily, but to the very tiny number of people who use their bikes to commute on a regular basis. We’re sick of 99.9% of citizens being inconvenienced (reduction of road travel lanes/more unused bike lanes), and shaken down (tax dollars used for unused bike lanes, businesses having to cater to non-existent bike riders). I could see it if, say, 30 or 40% of Santa Rosa’s population were riding daily, but realistically, we have maybe 0.5% of our neighbors riding regularly. I ride, and ride to work sometimes, but would never expect my employer to provide me with a shower, any more than I would expect them to provide me with lunch every day.
As a side note, Santa Rosa’s city council has become, as a group, insane, and have absolutely no interest in doing what’s best for the city, or the people who live here. It’s no wonder the old slogan, “The City Designed for Living” was thrown out.
To Money Grubber: that ‘cyclisk’ monument is at the end of my property-I own the small car dealership next to it.
Here’s a little glimpse into how the City rolls. They had knowledge that I wished to buy the ‘tip’ of the property. I told them the wrought iron fence would end where it is now with swinging gates. I told them that cars wouldn’t be the predominate feature. I stated my interest in buying the ‘tip’ and funding an attractive hardscape, boulders, landscaping, possibly even a sculpture. The money from the purchase and the tax revenue the additional space/frontage would offer would have been a win/win situation. Amagine my surprise months later when without notice the ‘artist’ was hooking his hose up to my water for the concrete.
Turns out they basically extorted the money from S.R. Nissan as a condition of their remodel. It is so out of scale to the parcel. Such a slap in the face. Then they gifted my access (a public street) to the Nissan dealer. Many beleive both moves are to de-value my property so they can take me through eminent domain at a lesser price and give our property to my neighbor(Redevelopment carries eminent domain). We feel most towns would be happy to have people like my wife and I. If I had known the town was so hard on small business, against property rights we frankly wouldn’t have moved here.
I wish our town’s efforts paid homage to us, not bikes.
Do we as santa rosans seeks out the most clueless,braid-dead members of our town for our government…serious.
Showers LOL….AMAZING
I guess most are pretty smelly…
I am a bike rider too-but this move would be asinine. How about showers for folks that choose to walk to work? This might be what an employer would choose to do on their own, but requiring it is nuts.
Here is the message to our (apparently) hard of hearing SR staff members who came up with this one-NO MORE REGULATIONS! Enough already.
Showers? Are you crazy? No on forces them to ride their bike. It’s there problem if they smell bad. Will someone pay for my gasoline because I choose to drive? Idiot bicyclists.
Speaking of the bicycle community, anyone take notice of that ….. uh….. artwork…. on Santa Rosa Ave which consists of a tall structure consisting of crushed bicycles upon a concrete mount ?
I don’t recall how many public dollars were allowed to be put into that but look at the base closely.
The city of Santa Rosa did not even take the care to ensure that the structure had been rustproofed and now its base is showing all the draining rust from above.
(someone has been cleverly painting the concrete in an attempt to hide the decay)
Know what that means? After just one year or so of existence, the structure is rendering itself UNSAFE to the public as sooner or later it will collaspe due to the ongoing, 24-7 rusting process.
Another nice job by the City of Santa Rosa. And how much public money was put into that 40 foot art?
I am actually a real person that brings my bike on the bus to Santa Rosa. I run some errands and visit friends, easier than driving to 4 or 5 different spots.
Well, not really easier, but I like my bike and I like to ride it, even though I look like the day-packed old homeless guy riding around. I will usually take the bus into town with my bike, and hit the library, Treehorn books, some lunch, the plaza, and ride up to the college area for visits and shopping at the Community Market, etc. Ride home to south Windsor, or snag the bus back.
I have never had a problem locking my bike up anywhere. Never. My bike is worth $$$, but looks kinda beat up on purpose to deter thieves. There are some bike ‘lockers’ downtown already, are they full all of the time ?
As a real bike rider, I am puzzled. If the existing lockers are full, put a few more in, no reason for private business to install them, and where will they put them ?
As a regular cyclist I am always amazed at the animosity many people show towards people how choose to ride bikes. This article certainly doesn’t help. I do not want to see undue burdens placed on business that would drive them out of the city or state.
I do ride my bike to work most days, and since it is a physical activity, I usually end up hot and sweaty. I therefore must take a shower before changing into work clothes and meeting my customers. Luckily my company provides a shower. They don’t provide a place to put my bike. At over $500 I am not going to put my bike outside where it could be stolen or damaged. Somewhere safe to put it would be great.
If you look at the cost imposed on business to pay for car parking, it seems the cost for bicycle parking is much less, and there is the benefit of no pollution, no wear and tear on the road, and no gas usage, lowering the cost of gas and road repair for everyone. It just surprises me no end that car drivers are so opposed to anyone who chooses a different mode of transport and they try so hard to make it difficult (no parking), dangerous (cars trying to run me off the road, or shout abuse), or impractical (no showers to clean up). Cycling is such a clean healthy mode of transport, and I ask everyone to respect others who choose it, even though you have not, yet.
What, no massage tables required?
Does City Hall have a shower ? Ohh, they would be exempt, sorry for asking.
I gotta say… Unreal. Showers? This is a joke right? Another business unfriendly proposal.
100% ICLEI.
Short term bike parking vs long term bike parking? Does the bike care? Are the meter maids going to ticket a bike if it’s parked too long at a short time space?
Once again the majority are punished for the few.
I agree with “The Hammer”, it should be up to the business’. I’m sure if it were in high demand, they would accommodate their customers with parking for their bicycles…but demand for bike parking is not a priority. So once again, regulations are put in place to coddle the minority bicyclists.
Gimme a break! What a waste of taxpayers money!
Yawn……who cares!
In this new utopian state, why aren’t businesses required to provide day care for their employees at no cost and three meals a day? Pet care should be in the mix too.
What about the homeless in downtown? They need a shower too and a place to stay. Why not require businesses to pay for that too?
All of this will make businesses flock to get in line to move into Santa Rosa. What other ideas can the City come up with to kill off business? The mind boggles.
The nanny state at its best in the socialist utopia called the new Santa Rosa.
It should be up to the business if they wish to expand on bike parking or not. I’m sure if it’s good for business then they will do it.
I thought the city was going to make it easier on the businesses, not harder.
In my opinion the City of Santa Rosa has gone nuts!