Board votes in favor of truckers who were recently subject to fines after parking on their own properties for a decade.
The board of county commissioners voted in favor, 4 to 3, of truckers parking their rigs at their own properties in Loxahatchee and The Acreage in Palm Beach County, Florida on Wednesday, November 29th after over a year of fines and code enforcement aimed at the trucking residents of the towns.
The measure was backed by Palm Beach County Commissioner Sara Baxter, who says part of the issue was a recent change in state laws that altered the weight limits that constitute a commercial truck, or what weight of vehicle is allowed in residential areas, reported WPTV.
“Most people have been able for a long time to park their semi-trucks in The Acreage,” Baxter said.
“They are trying to push us out of that area while we were there all along,” one trucker said outside of the meeting.
“I’ve been living out there 24 years,” trucker Jim Laclair said. “They are saying that the roads can’t handle it. That’s what Indian Trail just got done saying, and it’s not right. I mean these big trucks, the tractor trailers when they are empty, they don’t tear up the roads near as bad as what the dump trucks do from Indian Trails.”
But opponents of truck parking say that parking trucks where they live is disruptive to their lifestyle.
“I don’t want my AR district, where my wildlife and my rural lifestyle is gonna be disturbed due to semi-tractor-trailers,” one opponent said. “Dump trucks and tractor-trailers don’t belong in the neighborhood. You are taking away our property rights.”
The votes in favor of truck parking are just the first step. A hearing on the ordinance change is the next step. The first hearing is scheduled for January 25th, when officials will revisit the issue and make changes to the ordinance if necessary.