No trucks allowed    

[NOV. 7, 2003]  City officials passed an ordinance stipulating that heavy trucks cannot be kept in residential areas. No vehicle with more than two axles, weighing over 10,000 pounds gross weight will be allowed to park in a residential neighborhood except to load or unload cargo. All residential areas classified as R-1, R-2 and R-3 fall into the restricted areas.

The redefinition of the ordinance is the result of a number of complaints that truckers have been running their motors for extended periods of time in residential neighborhoods. The noise has been disturbing to neighbors.

Before a vote was taken, Sandra Cook spoke to the council about how the measure affects her. "I honestly don't know what to do," she said. "I'm a trucker. I've lived in this town for 20 years. She said that she spends most of her time away on the road. When she comes home she leaves her trailer at the truck stop but has to bring her cab home with her, and it is parked in her driveway, not on the street. The company she works for has the truckers take their cabs home when the drivers are off duty because truck stops are not considered safe enough. She said they have been doing this for 20 years, and when she talked to Jonie Tibbs, her alderman who lives just down the street, Tibbs' response was that she didn't even know they had a tractor.

Cook asked that the council consider an alternative that other northern and western states have adopted. In many states there is no parking on city streets, but truckers are allowed to park in their own private driveway with some stipulations. Truckers are allowed up to 15 minutes to start and run their trucks and are given five minutes after they are parked to shut them down. Cook said that her truck can be started and running in less than 15 minutes at minus 22 degrees. Block heaters also help warm truck engines in advance.

Cook said she doesn't know what she will do with her truck when the new ordinance takes effect. She has nowhere to put it other than her own driveway.

"Let us park in our driveway," Cook said.

Steve Fuhrer said, "I know this is going to affect a lot of people. Some people don't have an opportunity to park it [their truck] somewhere else. But I have to feel for the other people in a neighborhood too about what happens and what goes on," he said.

It would be hard to police that, Fuhrer said. He and several other aldermen agreed that it would likely not satisfy neighbors and it would be a continual struggle between neighbors and truckers. It would most likely get into a challenge of how long the truck was running.

The ordinance was the only one contested Monday evening. The vote was 7-3, with Aldermen David Armbrust, Verl Prather and Benny Huskins opposing the ordinance.

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