by Mary-Kate Roan
Staff Writer
A bill that has spanned the terms of two past City Council presidents – Michael Corrigan and Daniel Davis – and current Council President Ronnie Fussell was amended at the Nov. 25 Council meeting.
The amendment, drafted by Fussell, would allow commercial vehicles to park overnight in residential neighborhoods so long as the vehicle weighed no more than 10,000 pounds – a significant increase from the bill’s previous limit of 5,000 pounds – and was not parked along the sides of the road.
“Most personal vehicles exceed the current limit of 5,000 pounds and are closer to 10,000 pounds,” said Fussell as he defended the increase in size.
In the public hearing, Murray Hill Preservation Association President Kriss Duckett supported everything on the amendment except the part about commercial vehicles being allowed to stay overnight in residential neighborhoods.
“There are quality of life and safety issues,” said Duckett before requesting the commercial vehicle section of the amendment be pulled and considered separately.
The point was brought up that all residential districts would be pinned together with this bill, and while it was legal to park a boat trailer on the side or back yard in a residential neighborhood, a lawn mower trailer would be illegal to park in a yard.
“I can’t support this if it stomps all over private property rights,” said Council member Davis, who added he would like to see it sent back to be cleaned up and the Council was “getting in the mud.”
Council member Art Shad agreed, saying he would “feel better” about passing the amendment if it was cleaned up.
It was also suggested by Council member Warren Jones to take the weight of the vehicles allowed to park in residential neighborhoods back down to 7,500 pounds.
“We found that a Ford F-150 truck with a ladder like the police technician uses would not be able to park in a residential neighborhood,” argued Fussell.
Fussell also said that many people who violate the ordinance didn’t realize it, but he defended the amendment from protesters saying they didn’t want commercial vehicles allowed overnight stay in their neighborhoods.
“What you’re saying is that you want them to come over and park in front of your house to fix your stuff but not live next door,” said Fussell. “That’s self-centered and un-American.”
Council member Richard Clark agreed with Fussell about the animosity surrounding commercial vehicles in residential neighborhoods.
“Neighbors bring home trucks and work for a living,” said Clark. “This is a ridiculous argument to say people who bring home their vehicles that feed their family can’t park in historic neighborhoods.”
Corrigan agreed with the argument, but he did not agree with commercial vehicles with signs being allowed in neighborhoods.
“There is a company here in Jacksonville called Bad Ass Coffee,” said Corrigan. “I don’t want to have to explain to my four-year-old why a truck has that word on it.”
Corrigan added that commercial vehicles can pay to park in a yard to stay out of the neighborhoods.
“Who should be privileged is what I am hearing in this debate,” said Council member Denise Lee. “Be very careful discriminating against each other.”
Clark argued the amendment would modify the code for things people were doing every day along with the ability to dictate commercial speech.
“We’re letting neighborhoods write laws,” said newly installed Council member John Crescimbeni. “This is a double-edged sword, but I’m going to have to vote no and get a real handle on this.”
The original bill was enacted in 1991 and in 2006 was amended to prohibit commercial vehicles from parking on a public right of way. It was also amended in 2006 to prohibit any commercial vehicle over 7,500 pounds from parking on the roads. Finally, in 2007 the bill was again amended to set the weight limit at 5,000 pounds.
In the end, Fussell’s amendment to make the weight limit of a commercial vehicle parking overnight in a residential neighborhood 10,000 pounds was approved.
356-2466