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Pickup truck discussion returns to Flossmoor board Monday

Flossmoor’s long-standing prohibition on pickup truck parking in residential neighborhoods will be back on the agenda at Monday’s board village board meeting.
 
According to a media advisory released Friday, the village board “will discuss the consideration of a revision to the Village of Flossmoor Zoning Ordinance which regulates the parking of pickup trucks in residential areas.”
 
The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. June 4 at the village hall, located at 2800 Flossmoor Road.
 
Scott Bugner, Flossmoor’s inspectional services administrator, prepared a study for the village board of how other Chicago-area communities regulate pickup trucks. Ordinances from 12 suburban towns are cited in Bugner’s study. 
 
Overall, the study shows that several other towns have regulations that restrict the size of pickup trucks allowed in residential area. It is not uncommon to allow pickup trucks weighing no more than 8,000 pounds, which in Illinois have a Class B license.
 
Flossmoor’s zoning regulation specifies that personal use pickup trucks “may only be parked in an enclosed garage.” It has been in place since the 1980s and, following a long legal challenge, was upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court. 
 
Bugner told the board that his research shows Flossmoor’s truck regulations “are unique not only in Illinois but throughout the country.”
 
Concerns over Flossmoor’s pickup truck ordinance were last brought before the board on April 2, when a number of residents – both pro and con – addressed trustees on the existing regulation.
 
At that meeting, Mayor Paul Braun raised the possibility that an advisory referendum could be conducted to determine if Flossmoor residents want a change in the pickup truck regulations. The village board also directed staff to research pickup truck regulations throughout the greater Chicago region.
 
Bugner told the board that he sees a referendum as one possible avenue for determining if the regulations should be changed. The board can also send the zoning ordinance back to village’s plan commission for review, he said. If that happens the commission would likely hold a public hearing on the truck regulations before a final recommendation is sent back to the village board, he said. 
 

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