HomeMy WebLinkAboutIII. A. COMMERCIAL VEHICLE PARKING 4.16.24Commercial Vehicle Parking
on City Streets
April 16, 2024│ LJ Hansen
•The issue of overnight commercial vehicle parking on City streets
comes up regularly.
•Each situation differs slightly but there are some common elements.
•City staff often find themselves in between different viewpoints and
between differing needs and desires.
•No action is being requested of City Council at this time.
Background
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•Citizens from the Birchwood community have been in contact with
City since 2021 regarding commercial vehicle parking on Lampl Ave
•Members of the community would like to see commercial vehicles
prohibited on Lampl
•Public Works continues to work with Police and the community to
understand how best to meet varying needs at this location.
Lampl Ave – A Case Study
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Area Information
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•36 feet wide Collector Road
•Abuts B-2 & Residential Uses
•Accident history low - 4 in 5 years
•2019 – 2 crashes
•2020 – 0
•2021 – 0
•2022 – 1
•2023 – 1
•2024* - 0
•All accidents were collisions with parked vehicles – Property
damage only
Lampl Ave.
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Existing Ordinances
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•VB City Code Sec. 16-41.1 : Removal, storage and sale of
certain unattended vehicles—Generally (Emphasis added)
(a) Any law enforcement officer or other uniformed employee of the police department as authorized by the Chief
of Police or designee may have removed for safekeeping any motor vehicle,trailer, semitrailer or part or
combination thereof if:
(1)It is left unattended or has been involved in an accident on a public highway or other public property and
impedes the flow of traffic;
(2)It is illegally parked;
(3)It is left unattended for more than ten (10) days either on public property or on private property without
the permission of the property owner, lessor or occupant;
(4)It is immobilized on a public highway by weather conditions or other emergency situation;
(5)It is left abandoned on a public highway or other public property. For the purposes of this section, it shall be
presumed that a vehicle or part thereof is abandoned if (a) it lacks either a current license plate, or a
current county, city or town license decal, or a valid state safety inspection decal; and (b) it has been in a
specific location for four (4) days without being moved; or
(6)It is designated for removal by the code enforcement administrator as provided by Section 16-40(e).
Existing Ordinances – Cont’d
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•VB City Code Sec. 16-41.1 : Parking of Commercial Vehicles (Emphasis added)
(a) "Commercial vehicle"is defined as a loaded or empty motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer designed or regularly used for carrying freight, merchandise, or more than ten (10) passengers, including buses, but not school buses.
(b) Parking of a commercial vehicle in residential or apartment zoning districts shall be prohibited, except that:
(1) One commercial vehicle of one ton or less in carrying capacity and which does not exceed seven (7) feet in height or twenty (20) feet in length may be parked on any lot where there is located a main building owned or occupied by a resident of the premises;
(2) Commercial vehicles during the normal conduct of business or in the delivery or provision of service to a residential area are allowed;
(3) The parking of semitrailers for commercial or industrial storage is permitted on bona fide construction sites.
Existing Ordinances - Contd
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•VB City Code Sec. 16-41.2 : Parking and storage of recreational equipment
(Emphasis added)
•(a) "Recreational equipment"is defined as any equipment, used for transporting people or property in
connection with recreation and designed for temporary occupancy, including, but not limited to, jet
skis, boats and similar recreational equipment, trailers, campers, motor homes or similar vehicles or
racing vehicles, off road vehicles or the trailer or other device used to haul or move such equipment.
•(f) No recreational equipment shall be parked in any public street or public right-of-way for more than
three (3) hours
PW Director’s Authority
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•VB City Code Sec. 21-300: General Authority of Director of Public Works
as to Parking (Emphasis added)
(a) Notwithstanding any provisions of this Chapter, the Director of Public Works is
hereby authorized, when in his judgement it is in the public interest so to do, to
set apart on any of the streets of the city spaces for loading and unloading
merchandise, bus stops and other places in which no general parking shall be
permitted, and he is further authorized to set aside spaces in which parking
time shall be further limited or prohibited. Such action shall not be effective,
unless signs or other markings are present, within or near such spaces, so as to
apprise an ordinarily observant person of such parking prohibitions or
regulations. It shall be unlawful for any person to fail to comply with the
requirements of signs or other markings.
State Code
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§ 46.2-1222.2. Local ordinances prohibiting parking of certain vehicles.
(Emphasis added)
The governing body of any county, city, or town may by ordinance limit to
no more than two hours the length of time of parking on streets,
adjacent to commercial business areas, of vehicles with gross weights in
excess of 12,000 pounds or lengths of 30 feet or more, unless such
vehicles are actively engaged in loading or unloading operations or
waiting to be loaded or unloaded or are engaged in or preparing to
engage in utility or similar service work.
Questions - Discussion
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