Ordinances or laws that aren't easily enforced or clearly needed are generally a poor management tool, and a bad idea. If such an issue as abandoned bikes exists,it would more likely be covered under a broader regulation, act or ordinance, that local authorities may or may it choose to enforce for the very reasons mentioned by other responders and myself.
If you are looking to lay claim to these "abandoned bikes" you might want to approach civic leaders and agencies with he idea that your cooperative will assist the city by acting as the pickup and storage organization, perhaps even being responsible for publication of the "confiscated properties whereabouts and the 30 days to reclaim it, before it would then become your organizations property.
When contemplating new regulations, ordinances, or laws, you want to be very careful what you ask for, because once that ball gets rolling,bayou might get a whole lot more than you ask for.
Greetings!
Through the Delta Bike Project in Mobile, Alabama we are working with city leaders and the Mobile Police Department to update certain ordinances that have neglected to meet the needs of our city.
One of those ordinances we seek to create is an ordinance that allows the City/Police to recover abandoned bicycles that have been chained up for some (unknown) extended amount of time. We hope that the Delta Bike Project could be the recipient of those bikes for inclusion into our
Time is Money Program. It's also a way to clear up our very limited amount of bike parking - something we're also working on through various fundraisers and agreements of understanding to install fixit stations and bike racks.
Are there examples from this group of ordinances in your city that allow public safety officials or others to recover abandoned bikes? Do you have examples of that language that you can share? Also, are there other similar ordinances that are good to accompany these?
We are lucky to have the ear of the City Leaders and the Police Department, so we would be ever grateful for feedback on this issues.
Thank you,
Jeff
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Warm regards,
Jeff DeQuattro
Executive Director
Delta Bike Project
561 St. Francis Street
Mobile, AL 36602
<Delta Bike Project small pic.jpg>