A local business’s proposal to bring electric-assisted bicycle tours to West Douglas’ Pioneer Road was shot down in a narrow vote by the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly on Monday evening.<\/p>\n
The proposal by iRide Alaska failed in a 5-4 vote, with Assembly members Christine Woll, Greg Smith, Alicia Hughes-Skandijs, Michelle Bonnet Hale and Mayor Weldon voting in opposition.<\/p>\n
“In my opinion it wouldn’t be in the community’s best interest to be adding this,” Hughes-Skandijs said, arguing the proposal is a “victim of timing” as the Assembly and community are in the midst of deciding whether to consolidate or disperse tourism in Juneau.<\/p>\n
“You can’t have that conversation and at the same time continue to add in different tours,” she said. “There has to be a bit of a pause while we figure that out — and we haven’t figured that out yet.”<\/p>\n
However, despite being rejected by five out of nine Assembly members, the business will be granted a second-chance vote at the next Assembly meeting after Bryson, who voted in favor of the proposal, called for a notice of reconsideration minutes after the business walked out.<\/p>\n
“It’s very rare that someone uses notice of reconsideration, it’s not very ordinary,” City Manager Rorie Watt told the Empire after the meeting.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the Empire on Tuesday morning, Bryson said he’s not sure if the outcome of the vote will change the second time around, but argued he made the call for a notice of reconsideration to push back at the precedent he thinks Monday night’s vote set.<\/p>\n
“When we tell someone to jump through all the hoops and then the city says we’re still not going to allow it, we broke that trust,” he said. “We don’t want the Assembly to operate that way, we don’t want personal opinion to get in the way of the procedures. These guys did everything the Assembly asks, but at the end of the day we said, ‘Nope, feelings are stronger than policies.’”<\/p>\n
In recent months the application sent in by iRide Alaska has been a source of much conversation from both the Assembly and Juneau community members regarding if tourism ventures should be extended to the road which is currently used by local hikers and outdoor enthusiasts similarly to a trail, though it is technically not considered one.<\/p>\n