Bicycle Rental Ordinances

Town of New Shoreham Code of Ordinances:  Bicycle Rental

Sec. 8-200. - License required.  

No person, firm or corporation shall hire out, rent or lease, or allow to be rented or leased from their property, any bicycle to any members of the general public without first having obtained a license from the town clerk.  

Sec. 8-201. - License application and fees.  

(a)Application for a bicycle rental license shall be made on a form to be supplied by the town clerk.

(b)The fee for a license shall be set by the town council.

Sec. 8-202. - Expiration.  

Any and all licenses issued under this article shall expire December 1 of each calendar year unless renewed.  

Sec. 8-203. - "Bicycle" defined.  

For the purposes of this article, the term "bicycle" means a vehicle with wheels propelled solely by human muscular power with no other means of power provided. This article shall not apply to rental of vehicles propelled in whole or in part by other means of power when such vehicles replace motorized vehicles authorized in article IV of this chapter, motorized bicycles, motorized tricycles, or motor scooters, commonly called "mopeds."  

Sec. 8-204. - Equipment and repair.  

Any bicycle rented, or offered for rent, under the license issued under this article, shall be properly equipped, as required by G.L. 1956, § 21-19-10, and shall be maintained in proper adjustment and repair.  

Sec. 8-205. - Helmets.  

(a)A person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of renting bicycles shall provide protective bicycle helmets as defined by subsection (b) of this section, to any person who will operate the bicycle, or who will be a passenger on a bicycle, if such person does not have a helmet in his or her possession.  

(b)For purposes of this section, an "approved protective helmet" is defined as follows: The helmet shall fit the person's head and shall be secured to the person's head by straps. The helmet shall meet the standards for helmets established by the Snell Memorial Foundation's 1984 standard for use in bicycling or subsequent standards; standards established by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or subsequent standards; or standards established by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) or subsequent standards. In no event shall failure to wear a helmet be considered as contributory or comparative negligence, nor shall the failure to wear a helmet be admissible as evidence in the trial of any civil action.  

(c)A violation of this section shall carry a penalty of $50.00 for the first offense and $100.00 for each subsequent offense.

Sec. 8-206. - Display.  

A person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of renting bicycles shall post literature explaining rules of the road for bicycle use and listing state and town laws regarding bicycles.  

Zoning Appendix E, Article IV: Criteria for Special Use Permits

Section 412. - Bicycle Rental.  

Bicycle rental shall conform to the following:  

A.Location. Bicycle rental facilities shall be located entirely on private property and shall be operated so as not to interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic.  

B.Size. No bicycle rental facility shall have more than fifty (50) bicycles available for rental per 5000 square feet of lot area, except that, this number of bicycles may be doubled where such facility completely replaces a non-conforming motorized vehicle rental facility.