Barrettscv 

Update from the Wisconsin Bike Feed: https://wisconsinbikefed.org/2013/10/...nty-ordinance/


Storystream:
Ordinance could mean an end to organized rides in Iowa County

Last night, I had the opportunity to testify in front of the Iowa County Transportation Committee at their monthly meeting in Dodgeville, WI. The concern from the community was so poignant that the Committee had to change locations to accommodate a larger audience. Even after moving down the street to a larger auditorium, space was at a premium with over 100 folks from all over the region packing the meeting to show their resolve against this proposed ordinance, and testify as to why this would negatively impact their business or event. Testimony lasted for over thirty-five minutes which is uncommon for this type of committee in this region, and did not include a single testimonial for the proposed ordinance. I was pleased to see such a diverse group of community stakeholders on hand to share their perspective and remind the committee that this ordinance would have a lasting negative impact, not just on bicycling in Iowa County, but also on the local economy. Folks from the Iowa County Economic Corporation and Dodgeville Chamber of Commerce, along with local business owners like Jeff “Potsie” Weber, who owns the Dodgeville Piggly Wiggly grocery store echoed concern that this ordinance would result in economic hardship for businesses in the region. Alongside small business owners, local motorcycle clubs, and avid cyclists from cross the region – the committee heard a resounding message – do not pass this ordinance.

Motorcycle and bicycle ride organizers made it clear that this ordinance would either force them to move their rides elsewhere, or continue to produce them but limit their impact on the community, and this contribution is immense. Just one of the many rides that pass through Iowa County, the Dairyland Dare, has raised over $100,000 for organizations in Iowa County.

The committee, after hearing all of this compelling testimony and noting for the record that they had received over 250 emails from concerned constituents – spent a significant amount of time discussing how to move forward with the proposed ordinance. Much to our delight, Curt Peterson, Iowa County Supervisor, made the motion to send the ordinance to a sub-committee that would include community stakeholders, as well as elected officials with the hopes of addressing concerns and producing a better ordinance.

- See more at: https://wisconsinbikefed.org/2013/10/....yEAXB1aU.dpuf "

smontanaro 

Thanks for posting the summary. This is good news.

It would be nice to know where the original impetus for this proposal came from, especially considering there was nobody present to defend it. I know politicians can make suboptimal proposals when they get are made aware of a "problem which needs to be solved", but in my limited experience, those problems are generally defined by lobbyists or cranky constituents.

Barrettscv 

I'm concerned that the proposal is far from dead.

smontanaro 

Well, yes, it's not clear that it's dead, but it does seem to be further from implementation than it was. At least if it's going back to sub-committee, they are (hopefully) at least rethinking their approach. Money talks, and it sounds like a number of local businesses (chamber of commerce, manager of the local grocery store, Iowa County Economic Corporation) voiced their concerns about lost revenue. I've not yet watched the video, but will try to do that this evening.

no motor?

This may be tangential, but about 5 years ago Wisconsin DNR received a large amount of bad publicity (some of it national) about allowing cheeseheads to shoot cats. I rode up to one of the public (statewide) meetings they had on the subject, and the large turnout of people wanting to express their feelings on not allowing the regulation to pass showed the DNRs decision to move the discussion to the first item of discussion was wise. These meetings weren't the typical boring bureaucratic meeting they usually had, and the next day it was announced the regulation hadn't passed due to all the publicity and proposed boycotts.

iab

Definitely dead in its current form.

But I am not opposed to regulating very large events. A group ride of 1500 will cause inconveniences. One that particularly bugs me is garbage left behind. Is it so hard to put your empty gel pack back into your pocket?

smontanaro 

On a related note (but different geography, so I imagine this thread will get moved again), I got this in the Team Judson mailing list morning:

Barrettscv 

Not the best possible result: https://wisconsinbikefed.org/2014/02/...l-problematic/

"The committee removed a requirement for $4 million in liability insurance but replaced that with vague language requiring an amount of insurance that the county deemed appropriate. The ordinance also called for a permit fee, but didn’t specify the amount. Two hundred and fifty dollars has been suggested by some county officials".

lopek77

Another fat a-hole deciding how to kill a healthy and fun lifestyle from behind his desk...WTH is wrong with these people? I hope that one day it will be illegal to propose this kind of BS... 1 year in jail for 1 BS proposal, 2 years for the second one, and life in prison for third one lol

iab

The $250 permit fee is insignificant for a ride of 1500 people.

Also, "Even though the ordinance did pass the major remaining concern, the amount of insurance required of the ride organizers, was left up to the organizers themselves. And since all organizers do have insurance it really makes no change in current practice at all."

Much ado about nothing.

prathmann

I didn't see anything in the original ordinance that limited it to events with 1500 or more participants. In fact it looked like it could be held to apply to any group ride - even regular club rides where there's no event fee and where a permit charge of $250 per ride would be prohibitive (our club averages over a ride per day all year - no way we could do that if we needed permits for each one). Haven't seen what the ordinance language is that finally got passed and hope that it has been substantially changed from the original.

Clarabelle

We live on the West Coast but have relatives in Wisconsin. One of our plans has been to return to Wisconsin with our Tandem and do a lot of touring with our relatives. This type of restrictive thinking by local politicians makes one think and wonder about how welcoming Wisconsin is to bicyclist.

dannwilliams

This ordinance also has a sunset clause in it. IIRC it vanishes next March unless it is brought back up and renewed. There are some in the communities affected by the large "event" rides that take place in the area, and we all know there are bad apples out there shedding a bad light on cyclists and cycling, we all know 'em. There is a reason there are several of these event rides in this area, fantastic riding, challenging terrain, friendly people, lightly travelled rural roads. And ALL cyclists need to be respectful of the locals, other motorists out on the road, obey the rules of the road. It almost happened that we lose an organized ride in this ideal cycling area.