City Government
Bike Group Forces Garden City Election
July 16, 2012 
The Committee for an Open Greenbelt (COG) filed petitions today containing more than 130 signatures from Garden City residents on two initiative petitions seeking to overturn the Bike Ban.
According to the group, once the signatures are validated the City Council must call for a special election. The election will apparently allow the residents of Garden City to decide if they want a truly open Boise River Greenbelt.
Two Initiatives will be submitted to the City Clerk of Garden City. One rescinds the ordinance that allows the Garden City Council to restrict bike riding on any section of the Greenbelt in Garden City. The second initiative prohibits the City Council from placing any restrictions on non motorized travel on the Garden City Greenbelt without the popular vote of the people.
The clerk told the GUARDIAN approximately 70 valid signatures are required to force the election. Ada County elections office will verify the signatures since they hold the voter registration records.
COG has engaged in a long battle with the Garden City Mayor and Council. In a press release COG said, “The cause is simple, this is about a City placing unjust restrictions on the use of the Boise River Greenbelt for the interests of a few. It is about families with their children, commuters, and recreationists wanting to ride their bikes on the Greenbelt as it was envisioned without risking their safety on the streets.”
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Jul 16, 2012, 6:02 pm
That is a low threshold for getting this on the ballot.
I surmise that one or two HOA letters to the inhabitants of the subdivision(s) in proximity to the mile long bike ban, full of hyperbole, socialist bikers the sky is falling language, will be all it takes to vote the initiatives down.
Jul 17, 2012, 5:56 am
They have to pave it, and enlarge it. Have you ever walked on a space that wide and had cyclers whiz by you? I’ve actually fallen down because of this. This BS about supporting all these people who want to ride their bikes is just that BS. Let them pay for the costs to upgrade the greenbelt.
EDITOR NOTE–If the people vote to approve the proposal, they are the ones to pay for it. Pretty hard to argue with a vote of local residents–either way.
Jul 17, 2012, 8:32 am
I suspect most of the people who want the path for bikes, don’t live in GC.
But hey, take away the one spot where walkers can go and not be afraid of being mowed down by a whizzing bicyclist, most of whom don’t call out a warning.
Jul 17, 2012, 1:17 pm
Nan: I suspect most of the people who want the path for bikes, don’t live in GC.
That’s an interesting point.
The people who would use the path live in Garden City… and in Boise, Eagle, Star… some even come from faraway places and gravitate to the Greenbelt because it’s such an attractive facility. SHAME on Evans and his Council cronies, for arbitrarily closing one stretch of the path, affecting so many people! (A cursory study of the issue will quickly reveal Evans’ conflict-of-interest; he just happens to be the guy who developed that particular subdivision.)
People from Garden City also ride their bikes on Boise’s Greenbelt sections… and we welcome them!
Jul 17, 2012, 2:50 pm
It will be nice to see what is the will of the People instead the will of the politicians.
Jul 21, 2012, 8:10 pm
Nice idea, and the way it should be. Bikers, especially those with the $10,000 bike/gear/outfit, do not have a good image with the typical path walker… and for sure not with the typical driver. They are few and the walkers & drivers are many. Will be interesting to watch the results.