An effort by a group of truckers in an Ohio town to fight a proposed ban on truck parking has paid off. Instead, the city is considering a new ordinance that would restrict – but not ban – noisy idling.
The Lancaster, OH, City Council voted April 28 against the plan, which would have prohibited parking commercial vehicles weighing more than 13,000 pounds anywhere in a residential district – including the truck owner's driveway or yard.
City Council President Steve Davis said the vote against the ordinance was 8-0, with one council member – the sponsor – absent. That councilman, Harry Hiles, who represents the city's 5th Ward, was expected to be absent for unrelated reasons. The vote was taken at a public hearing.
“At this point, they are looking at bringing new legislation up in regard to idling, as opposed to parking of the commercial vehicles,” Cori Neil, clerk of the council, said. The council's goal is to “try to find a compromise situation” between neighbors concerned about noise issues and truckers who want to bring their rigs home.
About 15 truckers attended the hearing, Davis said, telling the council that they were concerned about the security of their rigs if the vehicles were parked too far from home. In addition, they said they would face higher costs for parking, and for transportation to and from remote parking.
However, the truckers did seem satisfied with the compromise.
“The truckers were all in agreement: Idling is restricted so we can park at home,” said OOIDA member Randy Anderson, a Lancaster resident who led the effort against the ordinance. “I really don't think a person needs to sit and idle his truck in a residential district for hours. That doesn't make any sense.”
Even the couple whose complaint spurred the proposal were satisfied that a new version of the ordinance was needed.
“Most people thought that we had gone after a gnat with a baseball bat, and that the solution via the ordinance was much broader and more draconian than the problem required,” Davis said.
Anderson first got wind of the ordinance when his wife spotted a notice about it in the local newspaper. After calling the local city clerk, the trucker called OOIDA.
OOIDA's executive vice president, Todd Spencer, and Angel Burnell, who works in the association's administrative offices, spoke with him.
Anderson gathered a copy of the ordinance and a list of the councilmen, and sent the information to OOIDA. Soon afterward, OOIDA sent out letters to more than 40 truckers who live in the town, encouraging them to opposed the ordinance by showing up at the council meeting April 14 and by writing their council members.
Anderson not only sent a letter to his councilman, he either sent a letter or called each member of the city's ruling body. He has encouraged all the truckers he has spoken with to do the same.
Now, the council is working on the compromise ordinance. Rather than banning parking, the ordinance would limit – but not ban – idling.
“That would limit the amount of time that a truck could be left to idle while they're warming up for their run,” Davis said. “We took testimony last night from a number of drivers regarding the duration required for idling under different circumstances, taking into account the nature of the rig and weather conditions.”
A draft of that proposal was passed out April 28. A city committee will work off that draft. When that plan reaches the council, it will conduct another public hearing to discuss that proposal with truckers who live in Lancaster.
“We will certainly involve the industry in that process,” Davis said.
The conflict started after a local resident complained to the city about a nearby truck that idled for long periods of time. City officials spoke with the trucker in an attempt to resolve the dispute between the two neighbors, but were not successful.
In response to that one complaint, Hiles introduced Ordinance 6-03. The ordinance would have made parking on your own property a misdemeanor.
Truckers who live in the city have few alternatives to parking at home. Davis said Lancaster had no truck parking areas within the city limits. Individual truckers could make arrangements with owners of commercial parking lots, and there is a truckstop, but it is 10 to 12 miles north of town, he said.
Anderson said he was pleasantly surprised by the way city officials worked with the truckers.
“I thought this thing would probably go through, but they listened to our side,” he said.
However, he said the council's action doesn't necessarily mean the ruckus is over.
“We've still got to keep our eye on it,” he said. “They could always bring something back up if guys start abusing the situation.
“We're going to make sure we keep abreast of what's going on and let the guys know if they try to slip something in.”
--by Mark H. Reddig, associate editor
Mark Reddig can be reached at mreddig@landlinemag.com.
