No trucks allowed
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[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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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