Utah Senate Considering Bill To Allow Drive-throughs to Ban Bikes

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Utah House Bill 160 would allow businesses with drive-throughs to ban bikes.

UPDATE: February 20, 2015 – HB 160 passed the Utah Senate by a vote of 21-5-3 yesterday. The bill will be sent to Gov. Herbert for his signature. The bill will no longer allow municipalities to require that drive-throughs serve cyclists. This anti-bike, anti-clean air bill was sponsored by usually pro-bike Rep. Johnny Anderson. [Comments may still be left for Governor Herbert by calling 801-538-1000.]

UPDATE: February 14, 2015 – House Bill 160, which would overturn Salt Lake City’s recent code change and thus allow drive-throughs to ban bicycles, passed the House, and is in front of the Utah Senate Business and Labor Committee. [To contact your legislator  on the bill, visit http://le.utah.gov to find contact information for each senate member and house member. Senate Business and Labor Committee contact information: http://le.utah.gov/asp/interim/Commit.asp?Year=2015&Com=SSTBUS ]

UPDATE: February 10, 2015 – House Bill 160 passed the Utah House of Representatives and is being considered in the Utah State Senate. To comment on the bill, see the full roster for the Senate here: http://le.utah.gov/

UPDATE: January 30, 2015 – House Bill 160 passed out of committee by a vote of 7-3. [Editor’s Note – We will keep you updated on the bill’s progress as it moves to the House floor.]

January 29, 2015 – A bill has been introduced in the Utah House of Representatives  that would overturn Salt Lake City’s 2014 law that requires drive-throughs to allow bicycles. Representative Johnny Anderson (R-Taylorsville, district 34), normally a very pro-cycling legislator, introduced this bill, at the urging of the Utah Restaurant Association.

The bill will be heard in the Political Subdivisions Subcommittee at approximately 3:30 – 4:30 pm on January 30, 2015 in room 450 of the Utah State Capitol.

Councilman Luke Garrott, who spearheaded the effort to pass Salt Lake City’s law, said in an email, “while the SLC Council compromised a lot with them, they are insistent on overturning the whole thing at the Legislature.  In the extensive public comment process conducted by the SLC Council, not a single locally-owned business with a drive-through protested the changes.”

Mr. Garrott encouraged cyclists to respectfully contact the members of the committee (email addresses below), “since HB 160 seeks to overturn a Salt Lake City ordinance that requires businesses with drive-throughs to serve bicycles in their drive-thru lane.  I think this (the Salt Lake City ordinance) is a reasonable accommodation for cyclists that creates very little burden on businesses.”

The full text of the bill can be found here:  http://le.utah.gov/~2015/bills/static/HB0160.html

Information on Salt Lake City’s Ordinance is here.

The summary of the bill is as follows:

General Description:

9          This bill prohibits a municipality or county from making certain requirements of a

10     business with drive-through service.

11     Highlighted Provisions:

12          This bill:

13          ▸     defines terms; and

14          ▸     prohibits a municipality or county from requiring a business with a drive-through

15     service:

16               •     to accommodate in the drive-through service a person who is not in a motorized

17     vehicle; and

18               •     to maintain the same business hours in the business lobby as the drive-through

19     service.

Since Utah state law supersedes local ordinance, HB 160 would have the effect of overturning Salt Lake City’s 2014 ordinance that prevented businesses with drive-through windows from banning bicycles.

The members of the Political Subdivisions Subcommittee and their email addresses are as follows:

Rep. Curt Webb (Chair) <[email protected]>
Rep. Kraig Powell (Vice Chair) <[email protected]>
Rep. Johnny Anderson (sponsor of bill) <[email protected]>
Rep. Kim Coleman <[email protected]>
Rep. Jim Dunnigan <[email protected]>
Rep. Don Ispon <[email protected]>
Rep. Mike Kennedy <[email protected]>
Rep. Justin Miller <[email protected]>
Rep. Dixon Pitcher <[email protected]>
Rep. Marie Poulson <[email protected]>
Rep. Norm Thurston <[email protected]>
Rep. Ray Ward <[email protected]>

Staff analyst is:
Joseph Wade <[email protected]>

Comments on the bill may be made via email, and potentially in person at the hearing (details above).

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