Folks, After Matt, Paul, and others' conversation about bike parking at DMV, I shared some of our discussion with a friend at the Isthmus, thinking they (the rabble rousers that they are) might see it as a story possibility.
I got the following response from Bill Lueders, Isthmus news editor. Send comments directly to him, at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thu, 05 Sep 2002 15:00:22 -0500 From: Bill Lueders <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: bike parking at DMV Could you please post this so that other listserv members can see it? Here's what I found: The city does have an ordinance, passed in 1988, which requires that bicycle parking be provided as part of all new or newly renovated building plans. George Carran, the city of Madison zoning inspector, told me that the rule of thumb is one bike stall for every ten auto stalls. The ordinance grandfathers in (and thus exempts) buildings built before it was passed. The DMV building at 2001 Bartillon Dr. was platted in 1989, registered as "land only" in 1990 and declared tax-exempt (meaning it was acquired by the state) in 1991. That means the building was built after 1988. So it should have to accomodate, bikes, right? Wrong. The state, under state law and litigated case law, is exempt from local building code ordinances, except zoning ordinances as they pertain to land use. Although the bike rack ordinance is enforced by city zoning, city zoning does not consider it a land-use ordinance and agrees that there is no obligation for the state to comply. The state DOT official I spoke to, and the building's on-site property manager, say the issue of bicycle accomodation has never come up. No one has ever asked about it. The property manager says people sometimes bike to the facility and chain their bikes to poles, which is what I usually do, even in places with bike racks. Here's what I wonder: Is the lack of bike parking at the state DMV building at Bartillon Drive a sore spot for any of you? Would you type me a sentence or two (please not much more) as to why you think it's a problem for the state not to accomodate bikes? My email is [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Michael Forster Rothbart, photographer Phone: (608) 262-7411 University Communications University of Wisconsin-Madison Fax: (608) 262-2331 3 Bascom Hall, 500 Lincoln Drive Madison, WI 53706-1380 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] UW-Madison photo library: http://photos.news.wisc.edu *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
