Ventura County Municipal Code Art. 6 Bicycle Registration and Licensing

Sections 6275 through 6275-12, is hereby Repealed and Reenacted by Ord. 3053—9/2/75

Sections Renumbered by Ord. 3200—5/25/76

Bicycle, for the purpose of this ordinance, means any device upon which a person may ride, which device is propelled by human power through a belt, chain, or gears, and which has two or three wheels in a tandem or tricycle arrangement and which has wheels at least twenty (20) inches in diameter and a frame size of at least fourteen (14) inches.

No resident of the unincorporated area of the County of Ventura shall operate any bicycle on any street, road, highway, or other public property within the unincorporated area of this County unless such bicycle is licensed in accordance with this Ordinance and Division 16.7 of the California Vehicle Code. Each person who owns a bicycle shall apply for a license for such bicycle.

(a) Issued by Sheriff—The Sheriff of Ventura County is authorized and directed to issue bicycle licenses on behalf of the County or any contract city upon application therefor and upon payment of the required fee.

The Sheriff shall file each such application received and shall license the bicycle and shall keep a record of the name and address of the registered owner of the bicycle and of the information on the application.

(b) License to be Issued by Bicycle Dealers—Any business licensed by the County or any city in the County to sell or repair bicycles is designated to issue bicycle licenses under the direction of the Sheriff on behalf of the County. Application shall be made only on behalf of the owner of the bicycle. The issuing bureaus shall keep a record thereof and submit bicycle license fees and copies of the registration certificate on the first day of each month to the Sheriff's Licensing Detail.

The County shall procure stickers from the Department of Motor Vehicles as prescribed by Vehicle Code Division 16.7—LICENSING BICYCLES—and distribute such stickers to the bicycle dealers in the County.

(a) Stickers, Certificate Issuance—Upon registering a bicycle the dealer shall issue a license sticker and a registration certificate to the owner of the bicycle. The Sheriff shall keep and file a duplicate registration certificate for each license issued and for each change of ownership.

The registration certificate shall contain the date of issuance, the name and address of the owner, the license number of the bicycle, a description of the bicycle including the manufacturer's name and the bicycle's serial number, and a place for the signature of a transferee-owner.

The license fee to be paid for each bicycle is $2.00. The fee shall be paid when the license is issued. The license and registration certificate shall be valid and effective as long as the bicycle is subject to licensing under this article and requisite renewal fees are paid.

Bicycle licenses shall be renewed uniformly as required by the California Vehicle Code. Renewal shall be indicated by a supplementary adhesive device affixed on or near the license sticker. These may be issued by the bicycle dealers or the Sheriff's Department.

(a) License Renewal Fee—The renewal fee to be paid for each bicycle shall be one dollar ($1.00). The fee shall be paid at the time the renewal sticker is applied for.

(a) Whenever the owner of a bicycle licensed pursuant to this Ordinance sells or otherwise disposes of a bicycle, he shall notify the Sheriff's Department within ten (10) days of such disposition.

(b) Any person who purchases or otherwise acquires possession of a bicycle shall apply for transfer of the license to his name within ten (10) days. The transfer fee to be paid for each bicycle shall be one dollar ($1.00).

In the event a registration certificate or license is stolen, lost, mutilated or becomes illegible the owner of the bicycle shall, within ten (10) days of the discovery thereof, make application and obtain a duplicate registration certificate or license as the case may be without the issuance of a new registration number. However, when it becomes necessary to issue a duplicate license sticker, a new number shall be issued. A fee of one dollar ($1.00) shall be charged for making such application and issuance of the duplicate license sticker.

Whenever the owner of a bicycle licensed pursuant to this Ordinance changes his address, he shall within ten (10) days notify the Sheriff's Department of the old and new addresses.

No person shall willfully or knowingly remove, destroy, mutilate or alter any bicycle license issued pursuant to this chapter during the period which said license sticker is operative; however, the owner may remove the license to paint or repair the bicycle.

The owner of any bicycle, registered hereunder, which has been lost or stolen, shall immediately notify the Sheriff's Department of such loss. Upon recovery of the lost or stolen bicycle, the owner must immediately report such recovery.

A lost or stolen bicycle report shall become inactive one year from the date it was first taken, unless the Sheriff shall elect to maintain the report file for a longer period.

If a bicycle licensed under this section is junked or wrecked, the registration certificate shall be surrendered to the Sheriff's Department within five (5) days of such occurrence. The Department may accept written notice of junking or wrecking, with appropriate identification of the bicycle, in lieu of the certificate.

Any violation or failure to comply with any provision of this article shall constitute an infraction and shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed five dollars ($5.00).

Nothing in this article shall prohibit the Sheriff from stamping identification numbers on the frame of a bicycle on which no serial number can be found or on which the number is illegible or insufficient for the purposes of identification.