A cycling group says an unexpected requirement to purchase a highway use permit from the City of Port Moody is unfair.
And it could put a damper on a special ride it has planned Aug. 13 to raise money for the SHARE food bank.
Adrian Pettyfer of the Tri-City Cycling Club (TCCC) said his group is welcoming riders from other clubs around Metro Vancouver next Sunday to join their members for a tour around the Tri-Cities, out to Maple Ridge, then back through Coquitlam to Buntzen Lake before finishing at Rocky Point Park, where volunteers from the Coquitlam River Lions Club will grill burgers and beer from Tinhouse and Yellow Dog craft brewers will be poured.
Pettyfer, who was one of TCCC’s founders in 2016, said the event is a way to bring cyclists together for some camaraderie and to show them the beauty and disparate riding terrain in the area — from the flats of Port Coquitlam to the grinding climbs up Westwood Plateau and the rolling hills of Belcarra and Port Moody’s North Shore.
He said the TCCC Invitational started in 2018 with an initial peloton of 16 riders but has grown to become an annual highlight of the Lower Mainland’s road cycling scene.
This year’s ride has been capped at 200 participants, who are each paying a $30 registration fee that is being donated to SHARE — about $8,000 in total.
Riders can choose to pedal distances of 70, 85 or 100 km with two common meeting points where they take a break and fuel up.
But on Thursday (Aug. 3), Pettyfer said he received an email from Port Moody’s events assistant requesting the group apply for a highway use permit, as well as produce a certificate of insurance.
“As this is a large, organized group ride event, the City of Port Moody will require that you apply for a permit,” Aysha Martin wrote in the email.
A subsequent communication from Port Moody’s engineering department said the group must indicate the ride is neither sponsored nor supported by the city and will require “partial closure” of roads “due to the participants disrupting vehicle traffic.”
Pettyfer said the insurance is no problem because the group is covered by a policy from Cycling BC, as are individual riders who must also belong to the organization if they’re part of a sanctioned club.
But the highway use permit is an unexpected cost in addition to the $400 TCCC has already paid to book the picnic tables at Rocky Point for its post-ride barbecue.
According to Port Moody’s fees bylaw, the permit costs $404.80 for a road that’s part of the major road network and $247.20 for a local road.
Pettyfer said it also raises the spectre that other communities through which riders will pass could demand a similar permit.
Cycling BC’s website states club events that involve members from outside clubs require a sanctioning permit from the organization plus it could require additional permits from local municipalities, landowners, the regional district or even BC ministry of transportation and infrastructure.
“Each permitting authority will have different criteria to determine whether or not your event requires a permit,” advises Cycling BC, which is the sport’s governing body in the province.
Some of those criteria include:
- amplified sound
- the activity is publicly advertised
- the activity follows an organized route
- participants or spectators are charged a fee or minimum donation
- the activities may have an impact on other park/road users or surrounding residents
- any impact to traffic flow
While some of those could be applicable to the TCCC Invitational ride, Pettyfer said their event is more of an informal gathering and it “should not disrupt traffic any more than a usual club ride” where 50 or 60 riders gather at the Port Moody Recreation Complex before heading out in smaller groups according to their intended pace and distance goals.
Kim Law, Port Moody's acting general manager of engineering operations, said the city became aware of the event through TCCC's booking of the picnic area at Rocky Point Park. He said a highway use permit is "required if you're performing an action that may disrupt the normal flow of pedestrian or vehicle movement, or that may interfere with city parking, sidewalks, or bike path access" regardless of how long that disruption last.
Law said the city relies on organizers to determine if their event requires a permit and to submit its application.
"The requirement is the same for all events or projects that may disrupt the normal flow of traffic."
Law said if organizers go ahead with an event without a highway use permit, they could be fined $200 for a first offence, that could be cut in half if paid within 30 days.
Pettyfer said the requirement seems arbitrary.
“If we were planning a mass start ride such as a Fondo, we can see the value in a permit to have roads closed and traffic detours, but this is not our case. We don’t feel our ride warrants a permit.”
Pettyfer said participants in the invitational ride will be heading out in staggered, single-file groups of no more than 12 riders riding at a similar pace and route.
“We’re not doing a race or closing roads,” Pettyfer said. “We’re not disrupting traffic. We’re stopping at lights, we’re pressing buttons.”
