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One of the most interesting comment threads I’ve read in a while was in response to last Thursday’s post about a Dutch Bros coffee franchise on SE Division Street that was deliberately blocking the bike lane with traffic cones and personal vehicles. Apparently the poorly parked cars of customers and others regularly blocked their drive thru. Their solution? Hold the space themselves.
BikePortland was alerted to the situation by a reader named Michelle. She wrote to us—and also to the City of Portland—explaining that she was disabled, unable to drive, and needed the “reasonable accommodation” of a clear bike lane in order to “have a life.”
The post’s comment thread went in a lot of different directions. What caught my eye, and that of Matthew in PDX too, was the disability angle.
You see, Michelle wrote in the comments that she got an immediate response from the city. “It’s the quickest response I’ve ever received … Lisa Strader who answers ADA requests for PBOT sent me a letter saying PBOT was now enforcing this law in this place and to contact her if I have further problems.”
That’s been my experience too. I once had to contact PBOT about a recalcitrant neighbor who repeatedly blocked the sidewalk with their car, PBOT ticketed it within a day. Mentioning a disability seems to deliver lightening fast action. Which is good.
But Matthew in PDX thought about it a little more deeply. Here is what he wrote:
Whilst Michelle has framed her letter in terms of a reasonable accommodation, she is not asking for a reasonable accommodation. She is asking for Dutch Bros to obey the law and for the city to enforce the law. This is a normal expectation, not a reasonable accommodation to vary from normal, lawful practice.
I get very angry when private businesses and others co-opt public space for their own activities. I get even more angry when public officials, such as police, do the same thing – they know the law and should be held to a much higher standard. When I lived in NYC, one could almost guarantee that the NYPD would co-opt bike lanes or the public sidewalks so that officers can park wherever they damn well feel like.
The only circumstances where it may be necessary for an emergency vehicle to block a sidewalk or bicycle lane is when they are responding to a 911 emergency (their flashing lights will indicate a 911 emergency), any other time they can park legally and walk, like the rest of us. It is never necessary for a Dutch Bros vehicle to block a sidewalk, bicycle lane or traffic lane – there is no such thing as a 911 coffee emergency (no matter how much some of us need that caffeine hit in the morning).
Michelle had a different strategy, though. In response to the city’s reply to her, she wrote them back saying that many disabled people ride bikes, and that the city should possibly consider bike lanes in the ADA framework. There’s more than one way to skin a cat!
Thank you Matthew — and Michelle. You can read Matthew in PDX’s comment and the entire thread under the original post.