LA City Council tentatively passes law banning bicycle assembly on sidewalks
Los Angeles City Council considered a new ordinance Tuesday, which would prevent people from either assembling or disassembling their bicycles on public sidewalks.
The ordinance, modeled after the one already in place in the City of Long Beach, was drafted by Councilman Joe Buscaino, whose 15th District borders Long Beach.
He hoped that the ordinance would cut down on "bicycle chop shops" on city streets, where people are believed to disassemble stolen bikes and sell the parts.
He also hoped that by passing the ordinance, Los Angeles Police Department would have an additional tool to cut down on the high amount of bicycle thefts already reported, after noticing a "proliferation of bicycle chop shops" in his district.
The ordinance would define a "chop shop" as:
- three or more bicycles,
- a bicycle frame with the gear cables or brake cables cut,
- two or more bicycles with missing parts, or
- five or more bicycle parts.
A motion to have the ordinance drafted was passed 10-4 back in February, with only Council members Mike Bonin, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Nithya Raman and Curren Price opposing.
Harris-Dawson provided reasoning for his opposition, stating that when he was a kid, a similar ordinance would have led to his arrest multiple times.
"Growing up in this city I never had a new bicycle. Never. It was always a hand-me-down bicycle, so I never had a receipt," he said. "I don't remember how many times my bicycle broke and I had to fix it, or me and my brother had to fix our bikes, or me and a friend on my block had to fix our bikes."
"This wide swath that says anybody fixing a bike on a street that can't prove it's theirs, somehow, is moved into the category of a criminal," he added.
Tuesday's vote resulted in a tentative agreement, with the vote sitting at 11-3, after Harris-Dawson opted to change his vote.
To pass, the ordinance must have achieved unanimous approval from all City Council members. Since it didn't, it will be re-tried next week when it will only need majority approval.
