From: Bill & Bonnie Prestin (bprestin@chartermi.net)
Date: Fri Dec 12 2003 - 22:21:18 PST
Ok, here are the particulars for those of you who are interested. The town
(Village) I live in is less than 2000 people. There were two ordinance
sections I had questions about, and ask the council. Here they are:
40.03 Sec. 3.1 Parking of vehicles greater than (two) axles that are not
owned by the village is prohibited on all paved streets and village owned
parking lots. The council may permit and designate parking at the
aforementioned locations by resolution.
40.07 Large over the road trucks: prohibited in residential areas. Sec. 9.
the operation of large double bottom trucks, 16 wheel trucks, all semi-
tractor trailer trucks, and all other large over the road vehicles are
prohibited on residential streets of the village, at all times, and signs
shall be erected on the effective residential streets.
The use of these large trucks is prohibited unless they are emergency
vehicles, repair and service vehicles, repair vehicles for public utilities,
and / or moving and delivery vehicles.
Here is how the meeting went. I had previously filled out the form so I
could speak at the meeting. Each council member had a copy. On the form I
said:
"Bill Prestin, Main street, seeking a vote for an exception to the proposed
ordinance 40.03 & 40.07 for licensed historic vehicles."
I made out a handout showing two photos of my truck in the previous 4th of
July parade and attached a copy of the definition of "historic vehicles"
from my states Secretary of state(the licensing office in Michigan) to show
how the use of "historic vehicles" is restricted to events and club
activities. Each council member also got a copy of these,
The meeting goes like this: I will write these off the copy of minutes I
have from the meeting I attended. I'll skip the extra stuff:
1) call to order.
2) They approve the meeting minutes from the previous meeting
3) Roll call
4)safety protocol (I don't know what this is)
5) Public comment, time limit of 5 minutes each.
Then I said this: (I had typed it earlier, so as to be prepared)
"I came tonight because I had some questions about proposed ordinance 40.03
& 40.07. Can you tell me how they would be applied and if they would apply
to my vehicles? What I have is: two antique trucks with more than two axles.
One is a 1952 Studebaker, the other is a 1953 Diamond T. They are both
licensed as Michigan Historical vehicles. I show them in car shows and drive
them in parades. * See attached flyer from the Michigan secretary of state*
If these don't apply to me, great! Can it be documented in the minutes and
can I have a copy?
If they do apply I would like to ask for an exception for Licensed, Michigan
Historic Vehicles. As I am concerned that I will no longer be able to pursue
my hobby with my son.
:Here is where they said: "they do apply". and "why would we give an
exception to just one person."
:Here is where I pointed out that: "it would not be for just one person but
for everyone with a licensed historic vehicle with more than two axles."
:Then they said "they could not do that, it could be thousands, well maybe
hundreds of people" (I am quoting here)
:Here is where I pointed out that "I doubt that there will be a sudden surge
in the numbers of historic vehicles with more than two axles roaming the
village streets" (I couldn't help myself)
Then they said "We cannot make an exception, as the parking ordinance is to
address a safety issue with large vehicles parallel parking on the streets"
and the driving on residential streets ordinance " is because the streets
are not constructed to handle that much weight"
The brother of my neighbor, also a council member said:
"As I read the rules I don't think you should even own vehicles of that size
on residential property. We will have to approach the Zoning Committee at
the next meeting and see if you will be required to get rid of them."
About that time my 5 minutes were up. I had the impression, all in all, that
their concept was "how dare you tiny insignificant person come here and
question our all knowing and godlike decisions" (I was very polite about the
whole thing.)
They then went on to financial matters,
After the financial stuff they said:
"NEW BUSINESS"
1)"Second reading and adoption of proposed ordinance # 03-02, street &
parking regulations"
And then that was it. It was the law.
What kind of surprised me, is that they did not actually read the ordinance.
They just said. "second reading" and that was it. The only reason I knew
what the ordinance was, is because I had a copy of the paper. There was no
handout for the public as far as I could see. And I was the only person of
the three people in public attendance who even cared enough to comment.
Also:
I also have a copy of the rule books, though they are now out of date. I
always follow the rules but Have skirted close enough to the edges that I
think they might not like me. The problem is that "He must be crazy, he has
that huge garage and those army trucks"!!!
This is interesting too: while I was building the garage I got a registered
letter from the building inspector saying that I could not have a business
in the garage. I think the council member neighbor next door (who is a
business owner) was afraid that was my plan. I then got another letter
saying they thought I might have hooked up to city sewer without permission
and would shut off my water unless I let them come and inspect. I sent them
a letter in return saying they had to come and inspect, and that I wanted a
letter in return saying I had made no violations. They did inspect, and
there were no violations, but I never did get my letter.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill & Bonnie Prestin" <bprestin@chartermi.net>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 8:20 PM
Subject: [MV] Is this the land of the free??
> I live on Main street, in a small town (Village) just off I75 in
> Michigan. My lot size is 75 ft. wide by 160 ft deep. I own a 2 1/2 ton
1952
> Studebaker(M342) and a 5 ton 1953 Diamont T(M51)
>
> I built a very large garage to house my trucks. In fact it approached
> the maximum height allowed for "accessory structures" in our town which
was
> 25 ft tall. My garage is 24 ft. eight inches tall.
> I also maxed out the square feet of coverage rule on my lot which
> allows for 25% coverage. I have 24.98% coverage. My garage is 34 ft. wide
> by 46 ft long.
> My neighbor is one of the 5 council members in our town. Her
brother,
> who also lives on main street, is another of the five council members. My
> neighbor was not happy at all about the size of my garage. So they made an
> amendment to the allowed height of accessory structures. The new maximum
> height allowed is 17 ft. six inches tall. luckily my garage was already
> done.
>
> I recently saw in the paper (you have to read the fine print) that
there
> was a proposed ordinance to restrict all vehicles with more than two axles
> from driving on any street in town (excepting main street) lucky me, I
live
> on main street. But the ordinance also restricts vehicles with more than
two
> axles from parking on all streets in town including main street.
> Now, my trucks are stored in my garage at all times. In fact I only
get
> one of them out, about 10-12 times a year. They are also licensed and
> insured as "historic" vehicles.
> Now occasionally, when family comes up to visit, I will get one out
> and give the kids rides around the block, stopping in the parallel parking
> in front of my house to let the kids swap out & take turns. I also use my
> trucks in the local 4th of July parade. This new ordinance would prevent
me
> from doing both of these things.
> So I thought I would go to the meeting and talk to them about it. To
say
> anything at our towns council meetings you have to get on the agenda. So I
> filled out the form the required week ahead of time. At the meeting, I ask
> If they could make an exclusion to the ordinance for licensed "historic
> vehicles". They said "we can't make an exclusion for just one person." I
> said " No I don't mean just me, it would be anyone with a historic vehicle
> with more than two axles." They said "that could be thousand of vehicles"
> "Doing that would defeat the purpose of the ordinance"
> Then they told me that they don't think I should be allowed to
keep
> trucks of that size on residential property in the village, and they were
> going to approach the zoning board to ask If they could make me remove
them.
> I am not really sure what action I should take? Should I wait
until
> I get a letter saying I have to get rid of my trucks? Or is there
something
> I could do pro-actively. It makes me wonder what is becoming of "The land
of
> the free"
>
> Bill
>
>
>
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