Truck drivers living in the eastern North Carolina city of Rocky Mount will no longer be allowed to park their rigs at their homes, effective Oct. 8, after the passage of an ordinance on July 9.
Rocky Mount’s city council adopted an ordinance that bans the parking of commercial vehicles and/or trailers longer than 25 feet or weighing more than 10,000 pounds, which includes Class 3-8 trucks, in residential areas.
Tameka Kenan-Norman, the city’s chief communications and marketing officer, said there has been “an increasing number of complaints from residents” related to parking large commercial vehicles at residential properties.
She added that the city has restricted large commercial vehicles from parking on streets within 300 feet of a residence since 1970. The new ordinance bans drivers from parking their trucks on their residential property. Kenan-Norman noted the city surveyed other cities around the state and country and found that parking commercial vehicles in residential areas is “commonly regulated.”
The few exceptions to the new ordinance include trucks “directly associated with, and parked onsite of” non-residential properties in residential areas; trucks performing emergency services or public utility first response; trucks being actively loaded or unloaded; and trucks associated with construction or maintenance projects with building permits, as long as no parking takes place for more than 48 hours within a 30-day period.
According to a news report from the Rocky Mount Telegram, one city council member, Chris Miller, said during the meeting that truckers would be able to find safe parking at shopping centers in the area. Council member Reuben Blackwell said he didn’t know if those shopping centers are “ready to take on every truck in Rocky Mount.”
The ordinance was passed with a 90-day stay period, which gives truckers in the city until Oct. 8 to find a place to park their rigs. If caught after Oct. 8 parking at their residence, truckers will be fined $100 for the first citation, $250 for the second citation and $500 for any further citations.
The city says it will work with citizen truck drivers over the 90-day stay period to find a parking solution.
Matt Cole is news editor for Commercial Carrier Journal and Overdrive, partner publications of Hard Working Trucks.
