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Driveway width and truck parking ordinances discussed  Share
At the January 19 meeting, Manhattan Village Board discussed ordinances regarding minimum driveway width and truck parking in residential areas. In 2009, an amendment to the minimum design requirements regarding specified that driveways must be a minimum of 18' in width or one foot wider than the garage door on either side of the driveway, whichever is greater. ''After discussing the existing requirement with a local builder, it was determined that homeowners who put in larger garage doors are being penalized with the one additional foot on either side of the driveway, which adds an additional cost of $1,500 per unit,'' Development Manager Marc Nelson told the board. ''This is especially burdensome to homeowners who would like to have a three-car garage.'' ''A three-car garage already has a 30-foot-plus driveway,'' Nelson added. ''Maintaining a minimum of 18' for all driveways is adequate space for two vehicles to park with enough room to exit a vehicle on pavement.'' ''I just feel it makes more sense to just have an 18' minimum,'' Nelson said.
The ordinance amending the design requirements was up for first read and will be voted on at the board's Tuesday, February 2, meeting. Another ordinance open for debate was a revision to truck parking requirements in residential districts throughout the village. The new ordinance proposes amending the existing residential truck parking requirement. Currently only one truck or other type of commercial vehicular equipment exceeding three-quarter ton - but not more than eight tons, is allowed to be parked or stored on a lot in the residential zoning districts. The exception allows additional vehicles of the same type to be parked or stored on the lot only when located in a garage or other fully enclosed structure. ''This proved to be difficult to enforce, as it can be hard to estimate the exact tonnage of a vehicle,'' Building Commissioner Tom Pahnke said. ''The village has been receiving numerous complaints about truck parking in residential areas, and this revision will make it easier for the village to enforce,'' Pahnke added. The revision to the truck parking requirements regulate trucks by license plate type to allow for easier identification of prohibited trucks. The revision states that no truck tractor of any size, apportioned power unit, semi-trailer, stinger-steered semi-trailer, road tractor, pole trailer, converter dolly, apportioned trailer, apportioned semi-trailer, type B or greater bus, whether privately owned or a school bus, implement of husbandry or any vehicle requiring an Illinois registration plate suffice of H or greater, any vehicle required to have mileage plates of ''MG'' suffix or greater, farm plates of ''VG'' or greater, or tow trucks capable of towing any vehicle which is prohibited under this section, shall at any time be parked or stored within any residential district. If passed, village officials will enforce the ordinance based on the license plate issued for the vehicle. The ordinance also was first read and is expected to be voted upon at the Tuesday, February 2, meeting. Mary Bernhard is a reporter for Russell Publications.
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