Soledad Municipal Code Ch. 10.08 Bicycles

It is unlawful for any person residing in the city to operate or use a bicycle propelled wholly or in part by muscular power upon any of the streets, alleys or public highways of the city without first obtaining from the police department a license to do so.

(Prior code § 4-1)

The police department shall issue bicycle licenses upon written application on a form provided by the department. The license shall be valid until ownership of the bicycle changes.

(Prior code § 4-2)

The chief of police or an officer of the police department shall inspect each bicycle before licensing it and shall refuse a license for any bicycle which is determined by the inspecting officer to be in an unsafe mechanical condition.

(Prior code § 4-3)

Bicycle licenses when issued shall entitle the licensee to operate a bicycle for which the license has been issued upon all the streets, alleys and public highways, exclusive of the sidewalks thereof, in the city.

(Prior code § 4-4)

The license fee to be paid for each bicycle shall be one dollar and shall be paid in advance.

(Prior code § 4-5)

The police department shall keep a record of the date of issue of each bicycle license, to whom it was issued, and the number thereof.

(Prior code § 4-6)

It is the duty of the purchaser or transferee of a licensed bicycle to apply for a new license therefor within five days of the sale or transfer of ownership.

(Prior code § 4-7)

A. The city shall provide decal license stickers, together with registration cards for bicycle licensees.

B. The license sticker and registration cards shall have numbers printed thereon, in numerical order, beginning with number one hundred. It is the duty of the police department to affix one such license sticker to the frame of each bicycle and to issue a corresponding registration card to the licensee upon the payment of the license fee. The license sticker shall remain on the bicycle so long as the licensee retains ownership. If a license sticker is so damaged from accident or normal use and wear that it is no longer legible, or if a registration card is lost, it is the duty of the registered owner to obtain a replacement from the police department for a fee to be fixed by the police department, sufficient to cover the cost of replacement.

(Prior code § 4-8)

All persons engaged in the business of buying secondhand bicycles are required to report each such purchase to the police department, giving the name and address of the person from whom the bicycle is purchased, the description of the bicycle purchased, the frame number of the bicycle and the number of the license found on the bicycle, if any. The report must be made within forty-eight hours after the purchase is made.

(Prior code § 4-9)

All persons engaged in the business of selling new or secondhand bicycles are required to report each such sale to the police department, giving the name and address of the person to whom the bicycle is sold, the kind of bicycle sold, together with a description and the frame number thereof and the number of the license attached thereto, if any. Such report must be made within forty-eight hours after the sale is made.

(Prior code § 4-10)

It is the duty of every person who sells or transfers ownership of any bicycle to report the sale or transfer by returning to the police department the registration card issued to the person as licensee of the bicycle, together with the name and address of the person to whom the bicycle was sold or transferred. The report shall be made within five days of the date of the sale or transfer.

(Prior code § 4-11)

A. It is unlawful for any person to wilfully or maliciously remove, destroy, mutilate or alter the number of any bicycle frame licensed pursuant to this chapter.

B. It also is unlawful for any person to remove, destroy, mutilate or alter any license sticker or registration card during the time in which such license sticker or registration card during the time in which such license sticker or registration card is operative.

C. Nothing in this section prohibits the police department from stamping numbers on the frames of bicycles on which no serial number can be found, or on which the number is illegible or insufficient for identification purposes.

(Prior code § 4-12)

The police department, or any of the members thereof, may impound and retain possession of any bicycle operated in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter and retain possession of the bicycle until the license required by this chapter is obtained by the owner of the bicycle.

(Prior code § 4-13)

In accordance with Welfare and Institutions Code Section 217, the city council may from time to time authorize the distribution of bicycles or toys in the possession of the police department to tax exempt charitable or nonprofit organizations for use in authorized programs or activities designed to prevent juvenile delinquency. Any request from the police department to dispose of toys or bicycles pursuant to this section shall be made in writing to the city council and shall identify each item to be distributed and the proposed organization to whom such items shall be released. Upon receipt of such a request, the council may authorize the requested distribution upon making all of the following findings:

A. The involved toys and/or bicycles have been in the possession of the police department for a minimum of sixty days and have remained unclaimed during this period; and

B. The proposed receiving organization is a recognized tax exempt charitable or nonprofit entity; and

C. The proposed receiving organization's articles of incorporation, specifically authorize the participation in programs or activities designed to prevent juvenile delinquency.

(Ord. 548 § 1, 1996)