Council Bans Long-Term Parking Of Trucks on Residential Streets

Bowing to concerns that some neighborhoods were becoming parking lots for big rigs, the Montgomery County Council yesterday unanimously prohibited long-term parking for trucks and recreational vehicles on residential streets.

Violators would receive a $75 ticket. The measure, one of the strictest limitations in the region, is expected to be signed by County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and would take effect July 1.

The county had previously imposed some limits on street parking for trucks and RVs, but the measure approved 8 to 0 yesterday closed loopholes that county police said prevented them from effectively enforcing current law. Council member Donald Praisner (D-Eastern County), who is hospitalized after cancer surgery, was absent.

"Everyone in the commercial industry knew the loophole," said Montgomery Police Capt. Tom Didone, who helped craft the bill. "And we were powerless to do anything about it."

He said he has often seen 18-wheelers legally parked on grassy strips in neighborhoods, left by owners who would retrieve them the next morning. The new law would end that practice.

The ban does not prohibit parking commercial vehicles or RVs on owners' property but would keep them off most streets except those in 13 miles of strictly industrial area scattered across the county.

Workers driving trucks to and from a job site would be able to park on the street, and RVs can be parked on residential streets for 18 hours but then must be moved.

County Council member Michael Knapp (D-Upcounty), whose constituents had complained about long-term parkers, said he was seeking alternative sites.

He said he pressed for the measure because he views it as a public safety issue. He said the large vehicles often block sightlines for drivers and pedestrians, making it difficult to maneuver on narrow residential streets.

But Mark Scott, a Bethesda builder and small-business owner, said the ban smacks of elitism.

"You still have to get home from where you park, and you will have to pay for it. My issue is that there are going to be fewer and fewer blue-collar workers in Montgomery County," he said. "They are making it harder and harder for them to be able to live here."

Scott said the ban will hurt in what is already a tough economy.

Montgomery County, he said, "has gotten so elitist. 'We want you to come in and work here, but then we want you to go away.' "