My building has banned bikes. HALP
Thread started by
markedge at 09.30.08 - 5:09 pm
Stephen Box and others who have dealt with this....HALP! I can't find another thread about this.
My building refused to let us park in the building, anywhere in the garage. They told us to park on the street. There is only one usable and safe rack on the street and it is always full. Our office alone has 7 people who commute by bicycle.
So we started taking the bikes through the basement and then into the office. We just got a letter saying this violates our lease and that this will be in a breach of the lease if we continue to do so.
We ask for parking inside. They tell us to park outside. We tell them there are no spots to park. They tell us they don't care.
HALP!!!!!
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FUCK THAT what company do you work for?
Roadblock09.30.08 - 5:10 pm
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damn that sucks!!! they should get a bike rack or something for you guys in the basement or something. hope u guys get it worked out.
funanu09.30.08 - 5:12 pm
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Don, our company greatly supports all of us who ride bikes....it's the building management. (There are many offices here and even more people besides us who commute by bike.)
6464 Sunset Blvd. Company:
Paramount Contractors and Development, Inc.
markedge09.30.08 - 5:14 pm
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word man I meant to say what building management.
I've run into this bullshit too at places I've worked. It's fucking BULLSHIT.
who cares if you bring bikes in the building! what possible excuse could they give.
Roadblock09.30.08 - 5:18 pm
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No reason, except that the lease doesn't permit it.
markedge09.30.08 - 5:19 pm
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I've been bringing my bike into our building for a while, kept it in my cubicle.
The reason why I had to stop bringing into the building:
"It looks unprofessional"
strgazermel09.30.08 - 5:21 pm
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if you park your bike on the street it can easily get stolen. bunch of bullshit. why in the hell would the leae agreement ask for that. seriously... I suspect it has to do with stargazermel's reasoning.
Roadblock09.30.08 - 5:24 pm
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Probably related to insurance (or, lack thereof for bike-related stuff).
That, and/or "OH, MY POOR BMW MIGHT GET A DING". Dipshits.
turrican09.30.08 - 5:35 pm
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If I were you, I would make a few calls, write a few emails and bitch.
Find out who is in charge of the racks outside and tell them you need more. and bitch and bitch and bitch until they do it. Then get a big chain, couple it with a u-lock and you should be fine. Esp during the day.
I had this problem at my school. They had a rack big enough for 4 damn bikes. seriously. I sent an email and about 3 weeks later I rode up to school and saw a shiny new rack with space for 16 bikes.
I explained to them that they should be ENCOURAGING people to ride, not only for the environment and because of gas prices, but cuz the more people who ride, the more parking spaces get freed up. And by not having enough room, it was a discouragement. You could use these arguments with your building management
Plus I pay $30,000 dollars a year for that shit so they better have a place for me to lock my fucking bike.
I guarantee if you're a big enough pain in the ass, they'll find a way to accommodate you.
onelessfixie09.30.08 - 5:40 pm
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can a building ban a certain type of vehicle? does your office provide parking for cars?
brassknuckle09.30.08 - 5:41 pm
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I wonder why they can't install racks inside the garage??
onelessfixie09.30.08 - 5:45 pm
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I'VE GOT IT.
Have your company include a letter with their rent check that states:
"By cashing this check "building management company" agrees to allow "the company's" employees to bring bicycles into the building"
I'll double check with a professor if you think you may want to try this, but I've read articles where people have done this and it IS enforceable in court.
onelessfixie09.30.08 - 5:52 pm
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if you have a garage, i say you lock your bikes up across all the parking spaces. just lock them end to end. that should be about 1 bike per parking space. make the cars park outside.
brassknuckle09.30.08 - 5:53 pm
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If your building is over 10,000 sq ft I believe they are REQUIRED to provide bike parking.
Pg. 110 Section 12.21A16
Bicycle Parking and Showers. Existing Buildings.
Q- Can this code section be applied to existing buildings? If so, under what conditions?
A- The provisions of this section apply to additions or new buildings which have a floor area in excess of 10,000 sq. ft. The required number of bicycle spaces is 2% of the number of automobile parking spaces required. If the number of bicycles spaces includes a fraction, the number shall be rounded up and may be used to substitute an equal number of automobile parking spaces. Showers must be provided in buildings that exceed 50,000 sq. ft. Buildings with an existing non-residential floor area in excess of 10,000 sq. ft., (where no work is being done or where a proposed addition thereto is less than or equal to 10,000 sq. ft.), may have the option to comply with bicycle parking and reduce the number of automobile parking spaces, provided:
1- The number of automobile parking spaces must conform to current requirements. Furthermore, showers may be provided if the non-residential floor area is in excess of 50,000 sq. ft.
2- If an existing building has over 10,000 sq. ft. of non-residential floor area but the total number of parking spaces is non-conforming, bicycle parking and showers may be provided if the cumulative non-residential floor area of all additions thereto add up to over 10,000 sq. ft. and were built pursuant to current auto parking requirements. The above conditions do not prevent an applicant from providing bicycle parking at any time as long as automobile parking is not reduced. no work is being done or
marino09.30.08 - 6:12 pm
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Hahahah, you guys are awesome.
The building is far beyond 10,000 sq Ft. It's an 11 story building. There are FOUR levels of parking and there is even an unused railing in the basement level where bikes COULD be locked up, but we are not allowed to park there.
There is ONE U-shaped bike rack on the west side of the building that the city installed; there are also two bizarre racks that lock up only to your bottom tube and don't provide any way to lock your wheels. These are not up to city bike standards, hence why I said they aren't usable.
Tomorrow, those of us who bike in the building are going to the leasing/management office to tell them to build more bike racks or we'll continue bringing our bikes into the office, since they refuse to comply with city zoning codes.
markedge09.30.08 - 8:10 pm
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In San Diego we have this guy called Michael Turko...look him up, he's a riot. He works for a tv station and goes around poking into stuff like this. His saying is "It ain't right!". He's is the embarrassment guy who get things fixed. Is there some one like that in LA?
You know, they show up at your building asking questions on camera.
That might get something sorted.
Drew09.30.08 - 11:17 pm
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That guy could do us alotta favors if he was around...
imachynna09.30.08 - 11:27 pm
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geraldo at large used to do this
but he aint right
aksendz09.30.08 - 11:55 pm
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Also, I'd ask the guy at your company who has a copy of the lease, to find, in EXACT WORDING where it states that bicycles are not allowed in the building.
If it doesnt say it word for word that BIKES ARE NOT ALLOWED (or some legalese variant) the mgmnt company has no legs to stand on.
FuzzBeast10.1.08 - 12:59 am
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...AND NO BIKE TO RIDE ON. <---- I THOUGHT THIS WAS FUNNY.
LOL !!!!
eddieboyinla10.1.08 - 1:26 am
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Mark,
I trust you are well!
1 - Marino is right about the Muni Code that requires Parking. You can attack their Certificate of Occupancy if they don't have the appropriate bike parking.
2 - Any employer with more than 50 employees that offers leased/rented/reimbursed parking to its employees is required to give the same value in $ to any employee who opts out of the parking space and walks/rides/metros to work.
3 - If you want publicity, write -
Steve Hymon
LATimes
steve.hymon@latimes.com
213-237-6594
Let him take up the fight on the BottleNeck Blog.
SoapBoxLA10.1.08 - 7:32 am
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You guys rule so much! I feel like I have an army of friends at my back. THANK YOU!!! I'll keep you guys updated as to what happens today.
markedge10.1.08 - 8:23 am
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that's fucked...sorry to hear about that i hope everything works out for you...
MOM-RIDA-Raquel10.1.08 - 9:30 am
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http://la.streetsblog.org/2008/10/01/problems-at-6464-sunset-highlight-need-for-bike-parking-law/
Story #1. More to come!
I just met another cyclist in the elevator who used to work in Paramount's other property across the street, 6565 Sunset, where he said they used to give them a hard time for trying to park bicycles anywhere in the building. His office just moved to 6464 this year and today, they told him he could no longer park in the garage. They told him to park on the street. Fun! Looks like the war has just begun.
markedge10.1.08 - 9:43 am
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Don't overlook green-friendly drivers (i.e., Prius, other hybrids, etc.) in your building as potential allies in getting this resolved. You could put together a flyer politely explaining the building's actions and deliver them to friendly looking cars. Ask them to call the building management and gripe on your behalf. Point out that if 20 or 30 more people in your building drove every day, there would be that much more competition for the good spots in the garage.
NixonTwin10.1.08 - 1:06 pm
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