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No party bikes in Naperville as council enacts ban

Cars, trucks and buses, sure - but party bikes won't be a presence on Naperville streets.

The city council voted Tuesday night to ban the SUV-sized, pedal-powered vehicles citywide, not just downtown and on arterial streets as proposed earlier this month.

Most council members said the multi-person bicycles, which are often used on tours as people pedal themselves between bars and restaurants, could be a traffic tie-up and a safety concern on roads throughout the city.

"I see this as being a big distraction on the road," council member Patty Gustin said, shortly after a presentation proclaiming April 23 to 27 as Distracted Driving Awareness Week.

The decision means businesses that operate party bikes won't be able to run them anywhere in the city of 40 square miles in DuPage and Will counties.

"I don't think residents or businesses outside the downtown want to see, or be a party to, pedal pubs any more than the downtown does," council member Kevin Coyne said.

Only council member Judith Brodhead voted against the citywide ban. She previously had said she thought there could be a place for party bikes in Naperville, possibly in a business park or at a craft beer event.

Minneapolis-based PedalPub, for example, brought one of its party bikes to the Naperville Winter Ale Fest this February at Frontier Park.

The vehicle's presence at the fest was part of what brought the party bike issue to the council's attention. A separate businesswoman, Monica Bennett of Naperville, also alerted the city to the model when she sought a liquor license for O'Brien's Pedal Pub last year. Her request for a bring-your-own-booze license was denied.

Bennett did not return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

Council members pushed to prohibit party bikes everywhere in Naperville, saying they would be unsafe on some of the streets where they could have been allowed under a partial ban. If the vehicles were allowed on non-arterial streets outside of the downtown, as proposed April 3, Gustin said they could have traveled on hilly streets, such as Plank Road, or congested streets, such as 5th Avenue.

"A lot of roads I can see it would be problematic," Gustin said.

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