After being in Dinkytown for 13 years, Varsity Bike has moved down the street three doors.   As with all change there has been the expected changes, as well as the unintended ones.  During our time in business we have always had bikes on the sidewalk, a public tool block (which is 12 basic bike tools like allen wrenches, tire levers,  axel wrenches, chain tool, etc.) and an airhose for  anybody’s use.  This April, after an anonymous complaint, we were forced to remove the bikes and the public tool block (which was attached to an Metro Transit bus bike rack for people to learn how to take their bike on the bus) from the sidewalk.  We also had cargo bikes, like the Bakfiet, on the side of our retail space in the private common space in our building’s common entryway.  We were required to remove them as well. 

We have been working with the city of Minneapolis Planning, Zoning and Development Review to allow us to put out bike racks on the sidewalk for more parking and trying to find a new way to put out the public tool block.  We have been allowed to put out the bike racks for customer and employee bike parking as well as an air hose for public use.  We have not been able to come up with an appropriate way to have our tool block outside.  We need to have the tools retract when they are not in use so they do not block the sidewalk.  Unfortunately, our first experiment with retracting key fobs did not work because they were constantly being broken as they were not strong enough for rigorous use.  We are looking for a new long-term solution.

We at Varsity Bike are applying for an Outdoor Display and Sales variance to use the private space in our buildings entryway.  This variance is for the use of displaying our large cargo bikes like the Bakfiet, the Yuba Mundo or other traditional for sale bikes.  This space is dead space in an alcove and is not useful for anything else. The current zoning rules allow for hardware stores to display lawn and garden items such as lawn mowers in spaces similar to this.  The display of bikes would seem to fit into this same exception to allow a seasonal business to display large items outside during the peak selling season.  Without specific mention in the zoning laws, bikes are not allowed currently.

There will be a public hearing in late July to determine if this variance will be approved by the city. We have received support from the Marcy Holmes Neighborhood Association, the Dinkytown Business Association and our Minneapolis Council Member Diane Hofstede.  We believe this variance will not be an issue for anybody and hope that all our neighbors support it or at least do not contest it.