An Oxford Village ordinance concerning truck traffic that’s barely three months old is already facing the prospect of being scrapped.
Last week, council voted 5-0 to schedule a public hearing for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 regarding the proposed deletion of an ordinance amendment that prohibits ‘all truck traffic,? with the exception of local deliveries, on W. Burdick St. between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Trucks are defined by the village as any vehicle that weighs more than 7,000 pounds and is capable of carrying cargo.
This truck ordinance was adopted by council in September and took effect in October.
Village attorney Bob Davis gave two reasons to nix this ordinance language.
The first is ‘it’s redundant,? he said.
Ordinance language prohibiting trucks weighing more than 40,000 pounds ? gross weight including cargo ? from using W. Burdick St. at any time also took effect in October and it appears to have effectively dealt with the nuisance issues (noise, vibration, etc.) caused by large trucks.
Davis wished to make it ‘abundantly clear? the 40,000-pound truck weight limit on W. Burdick St. will remain in effect 24 hours a day. That is not being changed or rescinded.
Since the 40,000-pound weight limit took effect, Police Chief Mike Neymanowski reported his officers have had to stop a few large trucks and advise their drivers of the new restriction, but by and large, there’s been ‘compliance? from the ‘majority? of truck drivers.
Davis explained how prosecutions are being handled with regard to the 40,000-pound weight limit, which does not apply to trucks making local deliveries to residences and businesses within the village.
‘If you’ve got a truck and it’s (the driver’s) first time in town, we’re not running to the ticket (book) on this,? he said. ‘I don’t want to have 19 prosecutions a day just on these truck issues.?
‘When (council) first enacted the ordinance, we went through a period of (where) we didn’t give anyone a ticket for a while. We gave a lot of talks,? he continued. ‘The local trucks will probably get tickets for violations today. (But) if it’s somebody’s first time, we’re not going to ticket them. That’s not our prosecution strategy.?
The second reason, according to Davis, to eliminate the 7 p.m.-to-7 p.m. truck prohibition is because the lower weight limit impacts vehicles other than semi-trucks and gravel haulers.
‘It may have restricted some truck traffic that you did not intend to restrict,? he said.
For example, there are pickup trucks that weigh more than 7,000 pounds and as a result, they are not allowed to use W. Burdick St. during that 12-hour period.
‘And I don’t think that was your intent,? Davis said.
Council adopted both ordinance amendments in response to resident complaints regarding the excessive noise and vibration produced by large trucks, particularly during the early morning hours.
Officials were also hoping the restrictions would help extend the life space of the recently reconstructed portion of W. Burdick St. known as cemetery hill, for which the village paid approximately $450,000 to fix.