Fairfield City Council adopts changes in bike registration law

Tue August 23 2005
Posted Aug 23, 2005
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Fairfield City Council members agreed to scrap a proposal to require bicycle registration tags to be visible from the rear after a local bike shop owner said the law would be impractical. Advertisement The city already requires all bicycles to be registered with the police department, but an ordinance approved Monday night will change the registration fee from 50 cents to $1 and require that registration tags be "plainly visible on the bicycle." Council members were on the verge of requiring stickers to be visible from the rear when they received a letter from A.J. Steiner, owner of A.J.'s Bicycle Shop, pointing out that many bicycles do not have a suitable place on the rear to display a registration sticker. Steiner said a sticker placed on a seat post could be scratched off by raising the seat post up and down, and noted that seat posts are often covered up by reflectors, lights, seat bags and locks. He said stickers could be placed on fenders, but only 5 percent to 10 percent of bikes in town have them. The back of the seat also would not be a good location, he said, because stickers are not designed to adhere to a flexible surface. "I think A.J. raises a good point," said councilman Myron Gookin. The council also heard from Sol Waksman, who questioned the need for mandatory bike registration. Waksman said he and a friend contacted several area towns to find out if they require bicycle registration. Ottumwa, Mount Pleasant, Washington, Iowa City and Burlington do not. Oskaloosa does, but Waksman said the ordinance there is seldom enforced. "I'm trying to understand why this is even up for discussion," he said. For the complete story, read the Aug. 23 Fairfield Ledger. By Erik Gable, Ledger assistant news editor