Trucking Right Along

What to do about large commercial vehicles left overnight on residential properties has plagued Town Hall going back to the Wilkinson administration. Now, after protracted discussions among town board members and various segments of the public, a more or less reasonable policy appears near. The process of working out some new limits on trucks has been conducted with respect for all sides and a minimum of personal distraction, and this speaks well of the tenor of the town board as now configured.

Let us say first, that our own view regarding truck parking differs from that of those who have said these commercial vehicles are unwelcome neighbors and hurt property values. For us, the real issue is whether a property is wrongly used as a place of business, not what is parked there. As East Hampton Town Councilman Fred Overton said recently, many of the people who own these trucks are the same people who answer ambulance calls or put out fires. For some, he said, holding down more than one job, often one that requires a sizable vehicle, may be the only way to make ends meet.

Then, too, East Hampton has a long tradition of working people keeping the tools of their trade at home. Think of commercial trap fishermen who store nets and long wooden stakes in their yards. To say that house lots are not the place for parking or stockpiling much other than a family’s personal vehicles runs counter to that tradition. Sterile suburbia, we’d like to think, is still someplace way west of the Shinnecock Canal.

In a community where so much of the economic base comes from people who work in the trades, be it carpentry, landscaping, house painting, pool care, or a host of other jobs, it is unfortunate that some residents sound as if they are willing to hurt others. Also unfortunate would be the chance that the new rules could give an additional advantage to the large contracting firms, which are more likely to already have their own appropriate sites for parking.

In its recent revision of the draft ordinance the town board narrows in on the problem. The law would ban vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 12,000 pounds or greater, with an 18-month phase-out period for locally licensed professionals who own vehicles up to a 14,000-pound weight rating. Pickup trucks would be exempt. All others that exceed the maximum figure would have to be parked on a commercial property. This would effectively remove box trucks, larger panel vans, delivery vehicles, and most dump trucks from residential areas except when they are on a job.

Banning commercial vehicle parking should be just a first step. Additional effort must be taken to enforce meaningful controls on the business use of residential property — and, frankly, we see noisy, overflowing bars and de facto rooming houses as the more significant concern. At the same time, the town might want to provide reasonable-cost parking and staging areas for contractors — a concept that has been floated in the past. If East Hampton’s small-business owners are going to be asked to shoulder a financial burden to make their neighborhoods more attractive, the community should be willing to provide something in return.