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You kind of wish this was in the Friday File, but as CBC reports some big truck owners are none too pleased about the fact that Peterborough Ontario has a driveway standard of 6 metres long. A homeowner complained to the CBC when they found their 6.3 metre truck would not fit into their driveway. Good thing they were not in Kitchener or Whitby that allows driveways to be as short as 5.5 metres.
When the homeowner bought the house they knew that the garage was going to be too small for their truck that they use for business. The homeowner of course wants the city to make the minimum driveway length longer to accommodate their long vehicle and to “protect the next buyer”.
Planner Sean Hertel notes: “As homeowners are driving less, municipalities and developers are creating less parking,” he said. “Imagine if we accommodated every single parking request. We’d be overwhelmed by vehicles. At the same time we’re trying to be more sustainable. Those things are at odds and I think we have to draw a line. There are tradeoffs.”
But it’s not over yet for the homeowner with the overlong truck. Sidewalks will be installed in front of their house, meaning they could be ticketed for obstructing the sidewalk. In this case, there is no exception for motordom’s largesse.
Most of these trucks in the city don’t seem to be used for their intended purpose: To haul big things. The exceptions are construction contractors and farmers. But even some of them (who are 99% male) purchase trucks at a size and range of accoutrements that make you wonder if they are insecure about their manhood, or are just able to write off a good chunk of the cost against business taxes. The evidence is there. They are spotless. Dirt, concrete blocks, gravel, lumber and other materials will never touch the box. There is also a lot of chrome that gleams off them in every mall parking lot.
There you go. Their actual use ends up being for hauling groceries, transporting kids, pets and the occasional couch, SoVing to work and other stuff manageable with much smaller vehicles or effortlessly in walkable neighbourhoods. And of course, for showing off. Sometimes you hear big truck owners complain bitterly about paying too many taxes while they collectively occupy an unreasonable amount of public road space.
After years of renovations my appreciation for a $450 roof rack attached to the top of our old, rusty VW Golf grew rapidly. The thing transported an uncountable number of large loads of lumber. And the vehicle occupied a small part of the road.
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Reblogged this on Sandy James Planner.
The obvious solution is the return of the “carport”.
An open garage without a garage door popular in the 1960s and 70s.
Some of these trucks, F350 and 450, can run you more than $100,000, plus the stepladder needed to climb into the cab.
My idle question though is what are defining dimensions of a “Small car” space.? Our new tiny Fiat fits great , but our Ford Ranger, a great small truck now discontinued, is a hit and miss.
It is amazing that individuals expect “government” to solve their own problems. Where did we forget to teach children, now adults, that their own actions have consequences and that they themselves are responsible to solve them ?
Specifically in this case: buy a different truck, or if you must have such a large truck ( highly doubtful, of course ) then move or park it where it fits, perhaps a 100 m walk away.