AUBURN — In an effort to address a concern posed by a citizen in August, the city of Auburn has developed an ordinance which would prohibit semi trucks and heavy trucks on city streets zoned “residential.”
The issue was brought to the Auburn Common Council on Aug. 4 by Jeff Thomas who lives along Indiana Avenue. The fellow truck driver said he was concerned about trucks using Indiana Avenue.
“My concern is there are a lot of trucks that go down Indiana and Ensley Avenue,” Thomas said during the Aug. 4 meeting. “I am a truck driver so I know they shouldn’t be in a residential area. There is no reason for a truck to be in there for a delivery.”
His concern was for the children that live on the street and those that attend McKenney-Harrison Elementary School.
The ordinance, which was passed unanimously Tuesday night on first reading, eliminates truck traffic in residential areas.
City Attorney Erik Weber said there are exceptions if there are no other routes to get to an industry in a residential area.
Trucks are recommended to use a designated “truck route” within the city, consisting of Auburn Drive at S.R. 8 to Grandstaff Drive to 7th Street west of Grandstaff Drive. For those traveling in the opposite direction, the designated truck route is recommended in the reverse direction.
Trucks as defined by the ordinance are “any vehicle designed or operated for the transportation of property whose body weight or combined body and load weight exceeds five tons and/or has more than six wheels. Heavy trucks are classified as trucks with over 26,000 pounds.”
If approved on second reading at the Oct. 18 meeting, the street department will install “no truck” signs within the city.
Several resolutions were approved on second reading Tuesday night, including the purchase of a piece of property at East 11th Street and South McClellan Street, which lies within the Cedar Creek flood plain. The city purchased the land from Roy and Janet Hall for $10,100.
A .911 acre tract of land at 3483 S.R. 8 was annexed into the city on second reading to help facilitate the sale of a 2-acre plot of land for a new retail development. The land is owned by city resident Tom Smith.
In an effort for consistency within Bridgewater North section II, the council approved the rezoning of two lots (118 and 126) within the subdivision to R2 medium density single-family residential. The two lots were left out of a rezoning effort earlier this summer as the two property owners were against the rezone. The Common Council stipulated at that time that all lots be zoned the same for consistency.
This issue will again be on the Oct. 18 meeting agenda.
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