Seattle spends $186,000 on bike racks, wants to force one on Lake City coffee shop

When there wasn’t enough money in the budget for the City of Seattle to give Brian Hensley a bike rack for his new coffee shop, Kaffeeklatsch in Lake City, he bought one himself.

After all, that’s what the city suggested Hensley do.

It’s been a year now, since Kaffeeklatsh opened their doors. “We wanted to make sure that bicyclists felt welcome here.”

So Hensley bought a rack that he describes as “artsy.” People stop by to take photos of it and use it for their bikes. At the end of day, the baristas from Kaffeeklatsch wheel the bike rack inside, off the sidewalk, and in the morning they roll it back out again.

But when he put a request in with the city to add tables and chairs to the sidewalk of the coffee shop, an inspector said his bike rack was a foot too wide for the sidewalk.

Since the city has now been flooded with bike rack funds totaling $186,000, now they’re insisting Hensley replace the rack, which will cost $700 of tax-payer money, each.

Hensley has been told they’re at the top of the list to get a bike rack from the city.

While he’d like to keep the rack he already paid for, he says the issue is just frustrating. “I’d much rather worry about my business than a bike rack.”