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Council adopts tighter rules banning overnight commercial truck parking in residential areas
Summary
The Stonecrest City Council on April 28 adopted ordinance TMOD 24-001 to prohibit most commercial vehicles from parking overnight on residential properties and to remove several prior exceptions. Council voted 5-0 to adopt the text amendment after a public hearing and staff explanation of enforcement plans.
The Stonecrest City Council voted 5-0 April 28 to adopt TMOD 24-001, a text amendment to the city zoning code that bans most commercial vehicles from parking overnight on residentially zoned property.
City planning staff presented the amendment as a revision to Section 6.1.3 (off-street parking) to clarify that “commercial vehicles, including but not limited to semi trucks with or without trailer, dump trucks, flatbeds, tow trucks, utility trucks, buses, box trucks, and delivery trucks are prohibited from parking in all residentially zoned properties unless work is being performed by the business associated with said commercial vehicle and workers are present.” The revision also removed previously allowed exceptions for overnight parking in several nonresidential zoning districts unless the vehicle was actively loading/unloading and the driver was present.
The amendment followed questions from councilmembers about enforceability and coordination between code enforcement and community development. Community development and code enforcement staff told the council the revised wording had been reviewed and that enforcement officers would educate residents first and then issue citations where appropriate. The city manager said staff were working with DeKalb County on towing and citation procedures and that Stonecrest planned to have code enforcement staff in place to inspect violations during working hours.
A resident raised questions at the public hearing about practical exceptions: vehicles that must remain on call, homeowners who use a single commercial vehicle for a home-based business, and long-term parking at apartment complexes. Community development staff said the ordinance contains limited exceptions for vehicles “associated with a business” and for loading/unloading when the driver is present, and noted that type 1 and type 2 home-based business rules already allow certain business-associated vehicles to be kept at the business location.
Councilmembers said the change was intended to remove ambiguity and provide staff “ammunition” to address neighborhood complaints about large trucks parked in driveways and on streets. After public hearing, Councilmember Tammy Grama moved to close the public hearing and later moved to approve the ordinance; the motion carried 5-0.
The ordinance will be codified as an amendment to Chapter 27 (Zoning), Article 6 (Parking) and becomes effective according to the city’s adoption rules.
