My two cents on the meeting (and then I have to go to bed...after two solid weeks of researching and posting about truck weights and transportation regulations, I'm starting to see imaginary floating numbers above every truck I pass. This can't be healthy...) :
The issue has turned into a huge success in that the Town backed off and, at approximately 9:00am the morning of the meeting, published an agenda that updated the proposed verbiage for the Ordinance amendment as annotated below:
Proposed Law PRIOR to 9am 3/19/2018:
“No commercial or business vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating and/or gross combined weight rating in excess of 10,000 pounds and no racing or stock cars shall be parked outdoors in any residential district.”
Proposed Law AFTER 9am 3/19/2018:
“No commercial or business vehicle with a maximum Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) in excess of 14,000 pounds and no racing or stock cars shall be parked outdoors in any residential district.”
The proposed law, as originally written, prohibited parking of vehicles known as "3500 - 1 Ton Pickup Trucks" (a popular vehicle in our community) from parking outside on residential lots. It also potentially prohibited other pickup trucks as well, depending on how the town planned to define the salient terms of the ordinance. (A lot more information on this is below in my original blog article) The revision to the proposed law negated all of these concerns as no production vehicles in the classes commonly referred to as "1500, 2500, or 3500 Pickup Trucks" have a GVWR in excess of 14,000 lbs.
Huge success for all! The Town claimed their decision to do this was done solely on their own merit, due to their thorough review process, and was in no way a response to community feedback. Whether this is true or not, I don't think we will ever know for sure. But in the end, does it matter?
I've also gotten a lot of comments today about the media's decision to cover the issue as though there was massive confusion in the Town of Clay for weeks that was unwarranted, and based upon rumors. To that I am actually pleased. Why? In closing I will paste a comment I made on the "Next Door" app earlier this evening. ..Then I'm really going to bed
---While I don't doubt certain people may have been confused, there should be no confusion regarding the main issue. The Town of Clay published a notice for public hearing, in accordance with NYS Town law Sec 130, ten days before to change an Ordinance in a manner where it would have prohibited residential parking of certain commonly driven pickup trucks (known as 3500s). This infuriated residents who acted. At 9:00am the day of the meeting the Town revised the proposed Ordinance change so that it would not affect any pickup trucks in the 1500, 2500, or 3500 classes. This was stated by multiple attendees and admitted to by the board at least 3 times. By the time the meeting was held, there was no longer a concern regarding the subject vehicles given the amendment put out at 9am that morning. The town played it in the media like the whole thing was a big misunderstanding from the start, and they would never propose something that outrageous. It was not, and they did. The news stories were good for our community though as they made us look like concerned, engaged, citizens and our Town Officials look like solid leaders. That's a good image, and we fixed the law, so I consider it a success. The goal was NOT to start a public battle with Town Hall for all of Central New York to see. That's counterproductive and makes us all look bad. All in all, I think it played out very well...---
----- 3/20/2018 MORNING POST BELOW -----
Great meeting last night! Thank you all so much for showing up, voicing your concerns, and above all getting involved over the last two weeks to help get the Ordinance amended to no longer prohibit many of the vehicles we rely upon in our community. Huge win! I plan to blog about the meeting this evening and I'll also look into putting a subscription link on here, as I intend to continue writing about town issues. As always, any questions/comments/concerns, let me know, thomas241@gmail.com
I can't thank you all enough!!!