Committee Hears Proposal to Prohibit Commercial Vehicles in Neighborhoods

Talks about a possible ordinance to prohibit commercial vehicles from being parked in Chesterfield neighborhoods have begun.

The Planning and Public Works Committee reviewed a draft ordinance at Thursday’s meeting that would not allow certain vehicles to be parked on streets or driveways in residential areas.

Committee member and Ward 4 Councilwoman Connie Fults estimated that she's heard a complaint from residents about this issue at least once a month in the nine years she’s been on city council.

Last fall, the committee began discussing the ordinance in conjunction  in neighborhoods. Originally one ordinance for both types of vehicles was discussed, but the decision was made to split the two issues. The draft ordinance prohibiting commercial vehicles is not what the committee expected, though.

“I’ll speak for myself. Sometimes, when you get things on paper, you get taken aback,” committee chair and Ward 1 Councilman Matt Segal said. The RV ordinance, Segal said, covered vehicles that don’t affect someone’s livelihood.

“Something like this could really hurt someone’s livelihood and income abilities,” Segal said. “This really took me by surprise, the way this reads, and I’m not here to hurt someone’s ability to make an income.”

The draft ordinance defines a commercial vehicle by five different criteria:

• a vehicle that is licensed to haul more than 12,000 pounds
• construction vehicles, including tractors, backhoes and bulldozers
• vehicles that have been designed or modified to serve a specific purpose, such as tow trucks, dump trucks, step vans, ambulances and ice cream trucks
• vehicles designed for advertising purposes. This would not include cars with a business name on the side. It’s more aimed trucks that have been modified to be a billboard.
• agricultural, lawn or landscaping vehicles

Justin Wyse, project planner with the city, said staff researched what other municipalities do and drew from staff knowledge and discussions with council members to craft the definition of a commercial vehicle.

The proposed ordinance would prohibit those vehicles from being parked on a street or driveway in residential areas at anytime. Commercial vehicles could be parked in a garage or other enclosed structure. The vehicles would be allowed to be parked in neighborhoods while providing services to a home or while authorized construction is taking place. Emergency on-call vehicles could be parked in residential areas, too.

Committee members expressed concerns about the first condition of the definition, which would prohibit some larger trucks, such as a Ford F550s, from being parked in driveways.

“An F550 that has a name on the door, I don’t think that that is something that the average resident or neighbor would have a problem with,” Ward 3 Councilman and committee member Mike Casey said.

Current city code prohibits vehicles licensed to carry more than 12,000 pounds from being parked in residential streets from midnight to 6 a.m. Tractors and tractor-trailers are not allowed in neighborhoods at all times.

The committee directed staff to redraft the proposed ordinance with the input of several labor unions, including the Association of General Contractors, which has expressed some concerns about the proposal.

Wyse said anyone who has concerns or opinions about the proposal could contact their council members or him by calling City Hall at 636-537-4000. The proposed ordinance would go before the committee at least one more time before it is heard by the whole council. There’s no set timeline for the proposed ordinance at this point.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify when commercial vehicles can be parked in neighborhoods under the proposed ordinance. Updated at 2:12 p.m. on March 28.