OAKLAND — A bicycle sharing station installed Thursday at Rockridge BART has upset neighborhood leaders who say the racks are too close to a 1991 Oakland hills firestorm memorial.

The Ford GoBikes put in Thursday along College Avenue underneath the BART tracks and Highway 24 are a few feet away from the wall memorial of 2,300 tiles dedicated to the memory of 25 people killed in the inferno and 3,000 homes destroyed.

The installation was met with push back from Rockridge residents asking the city and its contractor, Motivate, to delay the project and look for other locations near the North Oakland station.

“The analogy I made is it would be like putting a bike station in front of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC. Here you have a memorial to people who died in the firestorm and you stick a bike share right in front of it?” said Stuart Flashman, attorney and Rockridge community planning chairman.

Flashman said at an earlier town hall meeting, city officials and Motivate told residents and members of RCPC that a bicycle rack was planned for the BART station but the exact location was not announced. The outcry began this week when Brooke Levin, a Rockridge resident and retired city public works director, discovered just how close — approximately five feet away — the bikes were to the memorial.

Dedicated in 1994, the memorial spearheaded by Levin includes 2,300 tiles painted by school children, artists, survivors of the October 1991 fire and Oakland City officials, wraps around a wall underneath the BART tracks. President Bill Clinton wrote a message to the “citizens of Oakland” on one tile: “This tile mural, molded by so many different artists, will stand as a testament to the strength of the City of Oakland to its firm resolve to rebuild.” Levin said the bike racks take away views of the mural, which she likened to a quilt.

“I think it’s disrespectful to a major public art installation which is also a memorial to 25 people that lost their lives,” Levin said Thursday at the BART station. “It’s an iconic part of this community.”

In response, Motivate and the city’s Department of Transportation said the site will be temporary, as they explore nearby options.

“We have heard them loud and clear,” said Jean Walsh, director of external affairs for Motivate. “I understand and sympathize with the residents. We are going to make it right.”

Chris Jackson, manager of the Rockridge District Association, said notification of where the racks are going have been an issue in North Oakland. Jackson said one installed on College and Bryant avenues irked merchants because it took away parking, while another on Shafter Avenue near 51st Street was put in next to a home.

Other locations, such as a long stretch of racks installed on Broadway at 20th street, took away several paid parking spaces.

Oakland will host 850 bikes and 70 stations, with other bike sharing stations in San Francisco, San Jose, Emeryville and Berkeley.

In a statement, city spokesman Sean Maher said the city will coordinate with Ford GoBike, Motivate and BART and the community to evaluate the location.

“It was never, and is not, our intention to diminish the value of the mural by locating a bike share station near it,” Maher said.

“We have heard and understand the concerns of a number of community members, many of whom were themselves impacted by the firestorm,” he added. “In light of their concerns, we have decided to make the current installed location temporary, and we will be coordinating with Ford GoBike, Motivate and BART to engage with community members in a process aimed toward an improved design, including reevaluation of the current site, or relocation to another nearby location that would serve the needs of the bikeshare program and the community benefits it strives to provide.”