San Juan Bautista officials Tuesday took up a discussion on dealing with such claims of noise and speeding from motorcyclists in the downtown area. Bikers and others packed the San Juan City Hall chambers and overwhelmingly spoke out against tightening regulations against motorcycle users or downtown bars.
Aromas resident Tony Luiz mentioned how he comes to San Juan a lot. He said he has donated to a local baseball field and has coached in town.
“If I come in here with my motorcycle, now I’m a different person,” Luiz said . “This little town had no problem accepting my money.”
Luiz, like other speakers, expressed concern that city officials were targeting Mom & Pop’s Saloon. Council members could not act Tuesday but tried to reassure those residents that officials were exploring broader zoning regulations for the whole city, not one business.
San Juan Bautista officials in April said they had fielded citizen complaints—largely about noise, parking and speeding—regarding the Mission City’s signature streams of bikers flooding Third Street bars Friday afternoons through Sundays. At the April council meeting, City Manager Roger Grimsley recounted how bikers confronted him when he asked them “to remove themselves from the public right-of-way” in downtown San Juan.
It sparked a broad conversation last month about ways in which the city could address the issue through regulations—such as those with limits on noise and parking, or doing stricter enforcement of current laws on public alcohol consumption, smoking within 20 feet of business entrances and speeding.
Opponents of regulations showed up to the Tuesday council meeting and spoke out against officials. They accused city leaders of targeting the owner of Mom & Pop’s Saloon on Third Street and stressed the importance of bikers to the San Juan economy.
It was on the agenda as a discussion item, so council members agreed to bring it back as a resolution at a future meeting.
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