THE VILLAGE, Okla. – Residents of The Village voiced support and opposition to proposed large vehicle parking ordinance changes for nearly two hours at a city council meeting Monday night. The city council ultimately held off voting on the matter to find ways to compromise on the issue which would impact where people can park boats, RVs, trailers and commercial vehicles on their property.
The ordinance changes would prohibit street parking for buses, travel and watercraft trailers, and certain commercial vehicles. There would also be size specifications for such property to be parked on residential lots. Boat and watercraft trailers would be prohibited from being parked in yards or driveways, and would have to be on pavement or gravel behind a privacy fence.
About 100 people filled the council chambers, standing room only, to hear what people had to say on the agenda item, with about 2-1 speaking against.
“If I can drag it down the road and don’t need a commercial driver’s license, I don’t see why I can’t park it at my house,” said Taylor Deaton, who uses a utility trailer for his second job. “We need to adjust it to fit everybody.”
“I agree that we need not dilapidated boats, RVs,” said Sierra Beamer, a boat owner who has parked her watercraft in her driveway. “Will there be an offer to permit, if I wanted to pay, put money into the city?”
“I’m 100 percent in favor of this proposal,” said Victoria Blair. “I think it cheapens the area. I think it’s unfair to those of us that don’t like to see that, to have to see it constantly. It ruins the view, it ruins my enjoyment of the neighborhood and the area.”
Ultimately, the city council did not vote on the proposed ordinance changes Monday night, opting to try and find a way that would allow a compromise between where people can keep their property and how that storage impacts others in the neighborhood.
“I think we need to come to a decision somewhere on this and put it to rest. I want to have a thorough conversation about it,” said Mayor Sonny Wilkinson.
“People have lived here for a long time, and I do want to respect that,” Wilkinson said. “I think there’s a little homework to do, to go back and tweak this a little bit.”
Some of those tweaks, Wilkinson said, might include easing size restrictions, and allowing property to be grandfathered in under any future ordinance. It’s unclear when the proposal will be back on the city agenda.
