In the category of “little-known and never-enforced Peoria ordinances,” did you know that your bicycle is supposed to be registered and licensed?
Yup. I didn’t believe it either, but Gary Sandberg told me it was in the municipal code. Sure enough, here’s the chapter and verse (emphasis mine):
Sec. 28-489. Registration, etc., required; exemptions.
(a) No person shall ride or propel a bicycle upon any street or public way in the city, or upon any part thereof, unless such bicycle has been registered and provided with the proper license tags as provided for in this article.
(b) Sidewalk bikes, scooter bikes, junior bikes or any other type of bicycle with a tire of 20 inches or less shall be exempt from license or registration.
(Code 1957, § 19-147)Sec. 28-490. Application for license; fee.
Application for a license to own and operate a bicycle shall be made to the superintendent of police, upon a form to be provided by the superintendent of police. The application shall be accompanied by a fee of $0.50 to be paid in advance at the time of issuance of the license.
(Code 1957, § 19-148)Sec. 28-491. License tag.
(a) Upon submission of the application referred to in section 28-490 in proper form, the superintendent of police shall provide duplicate tags, one to be permanently attached to the frame of the bicycle, the duplicate to be attached in such a manner as to permit the removal of the same by the owner while the bicycle is not in operation. The removal of any permanent tag, except by proper authority, shall be a violation of this article. It shall be a violation of this article for any person to operate any bicycle upon any street of the city, unless such bicycle is equipped with and displays thereon the proper license tags.
(b) Duplicate license tags for bicycles will be issued by the superintendent of police to the owner of a bicycle, when such tags are lost or stolen, only upon written application, which shall state what disposition was made of the original tag, whether the same was lost or stolen.
(Code 1957, § 19-149)
There’s actually more, but I don’t want to bore you further. There’s a provision for transferring ownership (fee: 10¢) and for violating the ordinance (fee: $10).
On that last point, I think we’ve found a great way to raise some money for the city: this spring and summer, station an officer at the beginning of the Rock Island Trail and start handing out citations to bicyclists with unregistered bicycles. Trail proponents say there are 82,000 users of the Rock Island Trail. If just a quarter of those (20,500) are bicyclists (and I bet they’re all unregistered), that would bring in over $200,000!
I wonder… if I go down to the police station, will they have the forms and the appropriate tags to attach to my bicycles?
I don’t know why they would not, they most likely have boxes of the decals stashed somewhere. I remember having one on my bike when I was a kid.
I just called and they do indeed have everything you need and will issue you your tags all for the bargain basement price of 50 cents. Kind of fun for a kid!
This is a good example of why Gary is both good for the City Council and bad for the City Council. He is able to find out information, regulations, etc that are illogical, unenforced, inappropriate or otherwise ludicrous. It’s great that he brings these issues to light!
However, on the negative side, he always discloses these in a “gotcha” approach or in a way to make the City look ridiculous — rather than in a positive fashion and either working to eliminate the proposal, mentioning it to staff so they can take action, etc.
While I love seeing him point out these types of issues and wonder why no one on staff does so, I then also wonder why he doesn’t use his intelligence and information in a more positive fashion.
One of the conundrums I have about supporting him with votes.
Ten other members of the City Council have the same access to the municipal code as I do. The entire Administration has even easier access to their “zero tolerance” laws. And for individuals having access to the internet, the municipal code is only a few key strokes away with a wonderful search engine as CJ found when I causualy mentioned to him the existance ot the law in our “zero tolerance” community.
peo proud, you have no idea what or how , if anything or anyway, I was going to use the fact that bicycles are required to be registered in the City of Peoria.
I had discussed the bicycle registration issue with City staff. I guess in a gottcha world, I wouldn’t do that.
Maybe, I should just accept all the opinions I hear and not try and really get to the core of any issue. After all, that apparently is your litmus test for earning your vote.
Go vote for the sitting members of the Council instead of earning your vote are willing to buy it by spending $40,000 to $50,000 to get their message out or the newbies spending an equally offensive amount of money. You, then can wonder why the Council decisions aren’t based on objection analytical thought process or merit, but who knows who and who is who.
Gary: Well written. During a recent discussion, the question was asked how many ordinances are on the COP books that are not enforced? Why not? Why not just get rid of these relics? And so on….
Also, rail only or rail and trail along the Keller Branch — none of the trail only or the new ‘Y’ rail on the public trough rhetoric.
Thanks for the response Gary. Deserved it after posting a half-reasoned bit.
You get my kudos for bringing these types of things to light (and much more important ones). Perhaps my biggest frustration is that these types of things have to be raised/addressed/focused on my City Council members when it should be done my staff members. All the time that you – and your colleagues (to the extent that they do) put into these issues, take away from time that could be spent on addressing the bigger policy issues facing the City. Perhaps that’s the core issue that I don’t see being addressed – policy setting by Council and administrating by Administrators. Too often it seems the roles get reversed on some issues – generally to poor results. That comment is not directed at you but at the institution as a whole.
Your approach is “unique” to say the least and one that obviously resonates with many voters. I myself have tuned in more than once when particular issues are being addressed simply to see how you respond.
Unlike your colleagues, I never wonder where you are at on an issue – you put it out there – for better or worse and let the chips fall where they may.
And I agree, the amount being spent on local campaigns is getting ridiculous.
CJ,
Why do you have such a hatred of bicycles? You want visitors to be punished for daring to come to Peoria and ride their bike on a trail of which very little is within city limits. Someone so opposed to visitors or bicycles is the last person who should be on a New Urbanism based commission.
That aside, I did register my bicycle the day I bought it. It takes maybe 5 seconds at the police station. Perhaps it will aid in it’s recovery if it is every stolen. There is no reason to remove this ordinance.
Tim, just because the ordinance is useful to you doesn’t mean that it should be ‘the law’. If the registration was made optional, then you could maintain the same benefit without forcing everybody else to take needless action (and pay a fee for the privilege!).