New regulations have been proposed for oversized vehicle parking in Dallas residential neighborhoods.
Large commercial vehicles are often parked in driveways or neighborhood streets, but many of those instances are illegal under city code.
However, according to some city officials, those rules are difficult to enforce due to outdated language.
“There are a lot of complaints about our inability to enforce our current code because it is very confusing,” said Councilmember Omar Narvaez.
Narvaez serves on the Dallas’ Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture Committee. On Tuesday, the committee unanimously endorsed an update to those rules which aim to define which commercial vehicles are restricted more clearly.
The new update defines an oversized vehicle as (a) any vehicle designed to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver; (b) any trailer or semi-trailer that is more than 20 feet long, more than 7 feet wide, or more than 9 feet tall; or (c) any vehicle weighing more than 15,000 pounds, including but not limited to dump trucks, tractor trucks, concrete mixing trucks, and flatbed tow trucks.
Code Enforcement Assistant Director Jeremy Reed said the update is modeled after the regulations in Fort Worth.
“The suggestion here is to actually have an oversized vehicle definition and then put the section of code that says we don’t allow the following on the fronts of apartment buildings,” he said.
Dallas resident Edgar Roberson said he supports the City enforcing restrictions on commercial vehicles.
“I think they should do it to the point that it keeps the neighborhood in good quality,” he said. “You can write the rules clearly so people won’t be asking 20 questions about it.”
However, other residents said they should be able to park whatever vehicles they want on their property.
“It’s our property, we should have whatever we want in the yard,” said Darla Gonzalez whose husband uses a commercial vehicle for his construction job. “I don’t know what they want us to do, to pay for storage? Even though we pay taxes and everything.”
Gonzalez asserted that the effort to restrict commercial vehicles is unjust and that the City should focus on more important problems like crime.
“There’s a lot of crime and we call them and they don’t come,” she said.
Public hearings will be held over the updated rules, after which the proposed changes will be reviewed by the Dallas Plan Commission before being voted on by the city council.