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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Citizens Bicycle Advisory Committee - Meeting Date: 6/4/2007 CITY OF GLENDALE CITIZEN BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CBAC) Monday, June 4, 2007 Transportation Planning Conference Room Bank of America Building, Suite 315 5800 West Glenn Drive, Glendale,Arizona 6:30 PM MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER Brian Kanitch called the meeting to order at 6:36 p.m. Also in attendance: Betsy Turner,Jeff Reid,Gail Hildebrant, Brad Meek,Jim Walker, Bill Wilkinson, Rick Qualls and City staff—Steve Hancock, Jamsheed Mehta, and Debbie Albert Members absent: Saif AI-Alawi, Fred Coury, and Norm Crowell Guests: Bill Lazenby, Pat Rhodes, and Jay Ewing II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the May 7,2007 meeting were approved. III. CALL TO THE PUBLIC Jay Ewing and Pat Rhodes said they would like to speak when agenda item VII was open for discussion. IV. INTRODUCTIONS Members introduced themselves. V. CONTINUANCE OR WITHDRAWAL OF AGENDA ITEMS No agenda items required continuance or withdrawal VI. REPORTS FROM OTHER COMMITTEES AND ORGANIZATIONS Betsy Turner said that the Citizen Transportation Oversight Commission (CTOC)met on May 4, 2007. She said that time was spent getting to know the new members of the Commission. She said that CTOC was planning a retreat to discuss future efforts by the Commission. Jeff Reid reported that Valley Metro had concluded the Valley Bike Month Challenge between participating cities. Avondale employees were the winners with most miles compiled by bike commuters. He said that Tempe came in second. VII. OVERVIEW OF ORDINACE IMPACTS ON PEDICABS Debbie Albert of the City of Glendale Transportation Department said that she was a member of an ad hoc committee that was composed of City staff reviewing the Animal Drawn Carriages section of Article I of City Code. Debbie asked Gail Hildebrant, as the Committee member who requested pedi-cabs be placed on the agenda,what her concerns were regarding pedi-cabs in relation to City Code. Gail said that she Citizen Bicycle Advisory Committee Minutes June 4,2007 Page 2— would defer to Bill Lazenby of the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists. Bill said that concerns had been raised by pedi-cab operators regarding bans on trailers drawn behind their tricycles and how that would affect regular cyclists hauling small trailers for toddlers and third wheel additions for young children. Bill asked Pat Rhodes, a bike shop owner and pedi-cab operator to elaborate on the issues he had spoken to Bill about. Pat said that as the owner of the Bike Emporium in Scottsdale he was concerned that the Glendale City Code addressing drawn carriages could be misconstrued and limit the sales of his pedi-cab trailers. Pat said that he is also an operator of a single pedi-cab. Pat also objected to the term "Animal"as in"Animal Drawn Carriages." He said it was a slap in the face for pedi-cab operators. He went on to say that pedi- cabs should be encouraged because they benefited the environment because they were non-polluting compared to motorized shuttles. He said the City of Tempe encourages pedi-cab use by giving out maps of routes to and from event parking. Pat said that Lori Green in Glendale's Licensing Office told him it would take six months to process a license while it took Tempe only one day;Jay Ewing said that he has a business with 30 pedi-cabs, most with trailers. He said that he doesn't like the unibody pedi-cabs that would exempt him from the drawn carriage category. Jay said that he has worked Glendale's Glitter and Glow event from 2000 to 2006. He said that business is down and wants the opportunities that events at the Coyote Arena and Cardinal Stadium offer. Pat Rhodes said that pedi-cab operators work as a"tip industry' without charging a fee for their service. Debbie Albert said that she wanted to stress that the City was not trying to change the definition of a bicycle in City Code as has been rumored. She said that if a carriage is being drawn,as is the case with pedi-cabs,then the operator must be licensed and meet certain requirements to ensure they have a safe operation. She said that Glendale would also like to get regional consistency in regulating pedi-cabs. She said that traffic flows in the area of the arena and stadium were also factors the City wants to address with limits on pedi-cab use at certain times of day—depending on a specific event—and on certain arterial streets. She pointed out that interior streets in the area, as well as parking lots, are private property that cannot be regulated by the City. Debbie said that an ad hoc committee has been formed to review the drawn carriage ordinance with people from various City departments like Licensing, Police, and Fire. Debbie stressed that the ad hoc committee was in the initial stage of seeing what other cities were doing, for example they had looked at San Francisco and San Diego ordinances. She said that San Francisco required disc brakes on pedi-cabs due to steep grades in the city and San Diego required seat belts for passengers. Debbie said neither of those requirements would likely make it into any Glendale changes to existing code. Bill Lazenby asked Debbie if it would be possible to add a pedi-cab operator as member of the ad hoc committee. Pat Rhodes said that he would be willing to serve as a member. Pat went on to say that pedi-cabs had a width that was compatible with bike lanes on arterial streets and that being limited to non-arterial streets was wrong. Jay Ewing said that he does business at the FBR golf tournament in Scottsdale on arterial streets. Jim Walker asked Jay and pat about their use of streets not"owned by the Bidwells." Pat said there are off-site parking areas he frequents to find passengers, citing one across from Kellis High School. Betsy Turner asked what the liability would be for the City of Glendale if an accident happened to a pedi-cab they licensed. She wondered if an injured person wouldn't sue the City because of its"deep pockets." Debbie Albert said that the license would ensure that a pedi-cab operator was insured. Jay Ewing said that his company carries a$1,000,000 insurance policy. Debbie Albert referred to a map and described where the various parking lots,with designated colors, are located. Jamsheed Mehta said that the only parking lot that is not private is the brown lot near the high school. Jamsheed said the agreement with the venue owners is that the City will provide 25,000 to 26,000 parking spaces, with 90-95%privately owned. Jeff Reid asked Pat and Jay if they had approached the arena and stadium owners about getting access to the private lots. Both said they had not. Pat Rhodes said that it is most efficient from a business perspective to move passengers from distant parking to as close as possible to the event. Jay said that they don't have to drop passengers right at the event, in fact, the closer you got the more crowded and time consuming it became to unload passengers and return for more. Jamsheed Mehta asked how many trips an operator would make on average. Jay Ewing said each rider could do 15 to 40 rides overall. He also said that each ride was less than 6 minutes in duration loaded and 3 to 5 minutes unloaded. Debbie Albert asked how many passengers can be drawn at a c:\documents and settings\blimbach\desktop\minutes\2007\0607m.doc 04/29/11 Citizen Bicycle Advisory Committee Minutes June 4,2007 —Page 3— time. Pat said he could carry 4 or 5 as long as they kept inside the width of the trailer. He said that if two couples asked for a ride he wouldn't say to them he can only carry three of them. Jay said that some pedi- cabs draw two trailers and so could carry more passengers. He said that if his operators were caught with too many passengers on a trailer they were pulled aside and admonished. Betsy Turner said there seemed to be a"dichotomy;"the pedi-cab operators sometimes want to be treated as if pedi-cabs were vehicles and at other times as if they were bicycles. She said that State bike laws says a bicycle should carry no more people than it is designed to carry. Betsy went on to say that she has seen bad pedi-cab operators at Diamondback games, sometimes operating on sidewalks. Pat Rhodes said that pedi-cab operators try to practice self-enforcement and will admonish operators for bad behavior. He also said that the trailers were designed to carry"lots of weight." Jamsheed Mehta said that there needs to be a standardized definition of operator responsibilities and a definition of the"contraption" used as a pedi-cab. Jamsheed pointed out that pedi-cabs can cause traffic trying to exit the Westgate area after an event to slow dramatically when they are operating on an arterial street like 915`Ave. He said that there would most likely have to be times, based on the peak traffic hours of a given event,that pedi-cabs would not be allowed to operate on certain arterial streets where traffic could be moving at 45 to 50 MPH. He said that Glendale's situation could not be compared to Tempe's Sun Devil Stadium events since they had many collector and arterial street options available for traffic exiting the area. Jay Rhodes said that pedi-cab operators did not want to on dangerous streets with high speeds. He noted that police in Phoenix would take them off Jefferson when traffic volumes get too big. Jay said again that he wants to work with the City of Glendale to resolve any conflicts. Bill Lazenby repeated his earlier suggestion that a pedi-cab industry representative be invited to the ad hoc committee meetings. Jim Walker said that, from a customer perspective, "If you can't take me to my car, I not going to use your services." Jay Rhodes responded that his route has to be whatever way will get him to a customer's destination. Jim replied that pedi-cab operators always seem to find a way, that's why he uses them. Betsy Turner observed that the Citizen Bicycle Advisory Committee really isn't relevant to the issue of pedi-cab operators and being licensed in Glendale. Bill Wilkinson agreed, saying that the Committee was more focused on recreational bicycling. Jeff Reid referred to an article in the Arizona Republic newspaper that cast City of Glendale officials as being unfriendly to bicycles. He asked if the issue would be resolved before the Super Bowl in 2008. Debbie Albert said that any amendments to the drawn carriage ordinance wouldn't go to the City Council until the fall, 2007. Jamsheed Mehta the intent is not to make restrictions for pedi-cab operators but to address ingress and egress issues for motorists attending events at the arena,stadium and Westgate. Pat Rhodes said that he and Jay were told by Lori Green that they could not work the Super Bowl or the BCS game. Debbie Albert said that they should be aware that the Glendale's City Manager,at his discretion, could issue an"Administrative Directive"limiting activities he thought posed a public danger. Brad Meek asked if lower speed limits could be posted to slow traffic on the arterial streets during sporting events. Jamsheed Mehta responded that lowered speeds could be hard to maintain with heavy traffic volumes traveling on open arterials. Jay Ewing rhetorically asked"Why involve the Citizen Bicycle Committee in this issue?" "Because', he said, `pedi-cabs are good for the environment,they provide clean transportation." Debbie Albert thanked Jay and Pat Rhodes for their input, saying their input was invaluable. VIII. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS No agenda items were proposed. IX. OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business. c:\documents and settings\blimbach\desktop\minutes\2007\0607m.doc 04/29/11 Citizen Bicycle Advisory Committee Minutes June 4,2007 —Page 4— X. NEXT MEETING Brian Kanitch said the next regular meeting of the Glendale Citizen Bicycle Advisory Committee would be held on Monday,August 6,2007,6:30 p.m., Transportation Planning Conference Room, Bank of America Building, 5800 W. Glenn Dr., Suite 315. XI. ADJOURNMENT Brian Kanitch adjourned the meeting at 8:05 p.m. c:\documents and settings\blimbach\desktop\minutes\2007\0607m.doc 04/29/11