PORTLAND, Maine — The Portland City Council voted Monday night to create an ordinance allowing them to remove abandoned bicycles.
City officials say there are several bikes across the city that have been abandoned and locked onto property for months and even years.
Public services haven’t been able to remove the bikes because of a lack of policies or procedures to legally handle the situation.
The city says they’ve gotten complaints and questions from the community which led them to develop an ordinance allowing the removal of the bikes.
The ordinance that was passed Monday night defines an abandoned bicycle as any bike locked in the same place on public property for one month along with another sign of abandonment, which could be a rusted chain or no tires.
“You can still lock your bike up to public infrastructure on public streets for more than a month as long as you meet the other criteria like having handlebars and wheels,” City Councilor David Marshall said.
Once the city removes the bike they’ll store it for 30 days and after that they’ll donate the bike to a local nonprofit.