College Station one step closer to citywide commercial vehicle parking ban

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The City of College Station is moving closer to banning commercial vehicle parking citywide. This decision follows an increase in complaints about trucks and abandoned trailers congesting streets from both residents and businesses.

In Texas, a commercial vehicle is defined as a vehicle primarily utilized for the transportation of goods or passengers, meeting the criteria of having a gross combination weight or gross combination weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more, including a towed unit with a gross vehicle weight exceeding 10,000 pounds.

Opponents of commercial vehicle parking on public property and roadways argue that trucks and trailers obstruct the view, posing safety risks and being eyesores. The city, which previously handled complaints on a case-by-case basis, now advocates for a more holistic approach to prevent the relocation of trucks and trailers.

Frequently, trucks and trailers can be seen parked unattended on a number of College Station streets, including Ponderosa Drive and Birmingham Rd. On any given day, you’ll possibly find a truck or trailer parked in front of the College Station Post Office on Harvey Mitchell Pkwy and Hilltop Drive, which drivers have long complained to city leaders about.

Currently, parking bans are implemented on a street-by-street basis in residential areas. City staff presented the council with three options, including prohibiting commercial vehicle parking citywide, prohibiting unattached/unattended commercial trailers (which are currently prohibited in residential areas), and prohibiting commercial vehicle parking within 30 feet of a driveway citywide.

The council ultimately suggested the citywide ban after the two other options were ruled out on how they would be enforced. City staff says that the other options presented would require more signage in each place commercial parking would be banned.

City leaders emphasize that prohibiting commercial vehicle parking on all city-owned streets and property will prevent illegal truck and trailer parking from moving from street to street, bypassing current ordinances. They argue that with the city’s ongoing growth, a proactive approach to the ordinance is preferable to a reactive one.

“There’s no solution other than a complete prohibition to avoid whack-a-mole situations because once you solve it on one street, another issue arises on a different street,” stated Councilman Dennis Maloney.

While no specific implementation date has been set for the ordinance, city staff is currently drafting the legislation for council approval. Concerns were raised at Thursday’s council meeting regarding the potential negative impact of hastily enforcing a citywide ban. The resident suggested a grace period before enforcement to allow truck drivers time to adjust, considering DOT rules about driving hours and mandatory breaks.

“Just blatantly prohibiting within six months, a month may cause an undue burden on very young business people who are already getting hit by the trucking business. Fuel is up, deliveries are down, the resident said. “Yes we do need to come up with a plan but can we actually work with the truck drivers and give them at least a year of what we’re doing right now, while we actually phase that parking out of the city of College Station versus making a knee-jerk reaction.”

City leaders agreed with the suggestions, directing the council to draft the ordinance with a delayed enforcement period of 6-12 months to accommodate truck drivers.

“I would say that the council is directing staff to bring us back an ordinance that we will adopt at a specific time but have a delay of six months to a year after we actually adopt it,” said College Station Mayor John Nichols.

City Councilwoman Elizabeth Chuna stressed the importance of ensuring that drivers are informed about the next meeting on the proposed ordinance to encourage more attendance and feedback.

“I would like to hear from staff on how they publish notice of that to make sure the truckers are aware that this is coming since education is a necessary component of this right?,” said Chuna. “I’d like to hear about what y’all did to let people know this change is coming and invite them to the table.”

The City of Bryan already has a similar ordinance in effect, but College Station aims to consider a model with more designated areas for trucks to pay for overnight parking.