This week on the council in addition to the work plans for all the city advisory committees (except strangely the adhoc budget committee) they're also talking about where you can stick your bike and how the city can help you stick it somewhere.

Also, do not forget the "Balancing The Community's' Checkbook" Town Hall meeting on January 9! If you have questions about this community's checkbook, view this informative video.

Almost every week this is the "What's on the city council's plate this week" review. I don't cover everything, so if you want the full rundown, read the packet and agenda yourself.

This is sort of hard to understand, but mostly it has to do with the standards that developers have to meet in terms of allowing parking for bikers.

Back in 1995 the city adopted a comprehensive plan that included guidelines for bike parking, where it should be, what it should look like, that kind of stuff. In 2004, they decided to take a look back and a look forward to see how things in the bike parking work could be improved. The city's expert bike parking panel:

• Ron Rants, Rants Group
• Jean Carr, Shea & Carr, Inc.
• Laura Schleyer, Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
• Larry Leveen, Planning Commission
• Jim Lazar, Capital Bicycling Club

And their mission was:

The City Council directed review of four areas of the code:
1. The number of bicycle parking spaces required for particular land uses.
2. The provisions of long-term, also known as “class one,” parking including the required degree of security and visibility.
3. The location standards for short-term, also known as “class two,” parking.
4. Requirements for bicycle parking upon change of use, especially in the downtown area.

And what the eventual recommendation (after going through the Bike-Ped committee and Planning Commission) was:

In brief, the Commission recommends adjustment of the minimum number of long-term and short-term spaces required for a variety of uses, including combining lower requirements with a new ‘reserved area’ approach for office uses; exemptions for downtown development where motor vehicle parking is not being provided by the developer (note: the City would continue its downtown bicycle “racks-on-demand” program); and additional detailed standards to ensure that short-term and long-term bicycle parking facilities meet the intended purpose while also providing flexibility for designers in choosing the specific form and location of the parking facility. The changes proposed by the Planning Commission are consistent with the changes proposed by the Ad Hoc Committee.