The city planning commission yesterday approved requiring bicycle parking at commercial developments of more than 6,000 square feet and residential developments of more than 12 units.

The legislation would offer incentives for developers to swap a car space for a bike space, up to 30 percent of the spaces law requires.

The planning staff initiated the bicycle parking legislation as incentive for commuters who have lacked secure places to park their bikes. The regulation still must be voted on by City Council.

"The point is to encourage people to bike instead of drive," said Stephen Patchan, the city's bicycle-pedestrian coordinator. "The city is trying to be a front-runner."

Pointing to a trend in development planning, Corey Layman, a city planner, said the just-opened Allegheny branch of the Carnegie Library is providing 12 spaces for bikes, while the ordinance would require only one. East Liberty Place, a multi-use development now under construction, will accommodate 59 parked bicycles; 19 would be required.

Roy Weil, editor of FreeWheeling East in Western Pennsylvania, asked that space definitions broaden to include three-wheeled bicycles used by people with physical handicaps.

In other action, the commission also approved the National Football League's request for a temporary 117-by-58-foot sign on the Downtown Hilton for its season opener Sept. 10; an identifying sign on the David L. Lawrence Convention Center at the underpass between Penn Avenue and Fort Duquesne Boulevard; a site plan for a medical center at 5201 Baum Blvd., the site of a former Taco Bell; and the Urban Redevelopment Authority's request to demolish a vacant Revco on Fifth Avenue Downtown, provided that a site plan for temporary use of the space be submitted.