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Council to send trailer, commercial-vehicle parking questions to zoning commission; considers 16‑foot trailer limit
Summary
Council members debated whether a landscaping business may use a residential lot for employee parking, discussed confusion over the term “commercial vehicle” in local code, and agreed to ask the zoning commission to consider a variance and to add a 16‑foot deck-length limit for trailers.
Struthers council members agreed to send questions about commercial‑vehicle parking and a specific residential lot to the zoning commission and to consider amending local code to limit certain trailers to 16 feet.
The discussion began after a resident (Brandon from Sixth Street) asked what material the council wanted him to use on a lot; council members recalled a previous directive that number-57 limestone was preferred for drainage. The conversation shifted to whether a landscaping business may use a residential lot for employee parking and whether the council’s ordinance definition of “commercial vehicle” matches state definitions. One council member said the city’s ordinance currently uses its own definition (for example, vehicles over one ton and with dual rear wheels), which can conflict with Ohio Revised Code and BMV classifications.
Council members asked that the zoning commission hold a public hearing and make a recommendation if a variance is needed for the property. They also discussed clarifying the ordinance to ban trailers longer than a defined deck length; several council members supported a 16‑foot deck-length limit for trailers used to haul freight or equipment and reiterating that trailers and storage of equipment should not be on lawns or grass. Recreational vehicles and seasonal campers were discussed as separate, often seasonal, matters and would be treated differently.
Next steps: staff will request a zoning commission meeting and public hearing on the property-specific request; the council asked staff to draft language clarifying trailer length, prohibiting trailers on grass, and removing ambiguity about “commercial vehicle” terminology to reflect local enforcement intent.
