Wauwatosa Public Forum: Commercial vehicle ordinance should be preserved

Truck with a sign harms residential character

Dear Editor:

Wauwatosa Alderman Bobby Pantuso thinks the ordinance prohibiting commercial vehicles from parking overnight in residential driveways is "nitpicky" (issue of May 26) and he is on a mission to change or eliminate it. I disagree.

The ordinance is one of many that contribute to the quality of life that we seek and enjoy in Wauwatosa. It is not elitist. As City Attorney Alan Kesner explains in the article, the purpose of the ordinance is to make sure residential neighborhoods in Wauwatosa stay residential and look residential, not commercial. What, exactly, is the problem with that? I agree with former council member Bernie Grimm: I, too, do not want to see a large advertisement on a commercial vehicle parked next door every day and/or night. I would live on Bluemound Road if I wanted that view. We should keep the ordinance as it is.

Here is a suggestion, which I hope is not perceived as nitpicky: if you cannot leave a commercial vehicle at work, make the room needed to park it in your garage.

Karen Morrisey

Wauwatosa

Commercial vehicle rules protect quality of life

Dear Editor:

I do not understand Alderman Pantuso's sudden zeal to remove a quality of life statute from Wauwatosa's laws. According to the article, he wants to remove the prohibition on parking commercial vehicles in residential areas. Why? Where is the clamor of the citizenry to lower their neighborhood enjoyment?

I have an interest in this because I was the 5th District alderman from 1975-84. This law was enacted when I was in office and it was in response to citizens petitioning the city to prohibit such parking. This was then, and is now, a quality-of-life issue. Who wants to have a commercial truck parked next door to them every night, plus all weekend? Not my constituents back then, and I voted their wishes for the current law.

We all know what will happen if this law is repealed. Even though strict limits would be set, inevitably "bracket creep" would come into play. Bigger and bigger trucks would sneak in, all-day parking would become the norm, and vehicles other than trucks, such as large yard equipment, Bobcat loaders and the like, would begin to appear.

To keep this short, the current law we have works very well. It is not broken and does not need fixing. I live in a residential neighborhood and my neighbors and myself do not want commercial vehicles in our midst. There is no need for a change, and indeed, a change would be a very retrograde step. Alderman Bobby Pantuso should direct his efforts to more constructive matters than tilting at windmills.

Thomas Schultz

Wauwatosa