The city council voted 5-1 to delay a first reading of the ordinance at its Wednesday meeting.
District 3 councilor Delma Petrullo made a motion to delay the reading, because of last-minute revisions to the ordinance by the planning and zoning department.
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The ordinance would prohibit parking 18-wheelers on residential property in the city.
Petrullo watched the planning and zoning meeting carefully Tuesday and said she needed more time to review the last-minute changes.
“The planning and zoning commission was so thorough in their questions and so thoughtful. I didn’t see the amendments until five minutes before the meeting started and there was just no way I could comprehend all the information that was in there,” she said. “I have questions of my own and I think we need to take very seriously what planning and zoning did and their suggestions.”
Granted, Petrullo is a speed-reader, but she said five minutes is an awfully short time to digest new material.
Although Petrullo voted to delay the ordinance, she said she is for it.
“Unfortunately, some people have abused living here,” she said. “We’re becoming a big city and living closer, closer and closer to our neighbors and we have to be considerate.”
Petrullo admits there are more questions to be asked.
If the ordinance is enacted, truckers will either have to build garages or find a secure lot to park their trucks. Currently, there are no truck stops in Rio Rancho and because the city is not close to a freeway, Petrullo does not expect one to be built
However, the cost of the garages can be expensive, ranging from $10,000 to $30,000. This brought concern from District 5 councilor Larry Naranjo.
The ordinance, if enacted, will give truckers a six-month grace period to comply and a year if they are building a garage for their vehicle.
Residential property owners would still be able to park one commercial vehicle on their property providing it is below a set size.
The planning and zoning board-approved changes to the ordinance that increased the maximum permitted weight from 10,000 pounds to 14,000 pounds and increased the permitted length from 20 feet to 22 feet.
Residents could still park larger commercial vehicles, provided they are enclosed inside a structure that meets all applicable city codes.
District 6 councilor Marilyn Salzman voted against the postponement because she wants to quickly enact the ordinance.
Several people spoke for and against the ordinance at the council meeting.
Ron Meyer, who moved to the city two years ago, argued that trucks decrease homes’ values.
“Passing this ordinance will demonstrate to the rest of the communities in New Mexico that we’re ready to move into being a cosmopolitan area,” he said. “We took the initiative a couple of weeks ago to pass the CNM bond issue, so certainly we are moving forward. The council has a social responsibility to its residents to pass this ordinance.”
Tom DeFeo, who has lived in Rio Rancho for six years, said he is living in his 23rd home in a 10th state and never before was a commercial vehicle on residential land an issue.
“If you put a commercial vehicle on residential land, it then becomes a commercial operation,” he said.
DeFeo also pointed out to the council that he has nothing against truckers and that his father-in-law is a life long trucker.
Toby Padilla refuted Meyer’s argument and said that property values are on the rise. He also said he, like nearly all truckers, can’t afford to build a trailer to house the truck.
Padilla challenged the testimony of a task force member who told the planning and zoning board that Santa Ana Star Casino welcomed the big rigs and parking was free.
“I spoke to those people today,” he said. “They told us they don’t want our trucks there. They don’t want to be responsible for the vandalism.”
Tom Lovato said that the proposed ordinance makes him feel like a second-class citizen.
“Just because I make a living with a truck, if I have to hide it in a garage, I become a second class citizen,” he said. “We haul materials into this city to help build this city, but we can’t park our truck at our house. I hauled to this building and the center next door.”
Lovato also said it’s not fair that an RV is allowed to be parked 90 percent of the year, but because he makes a living with a truck he has to hide it.
“It may be legal, but it isn’t right,” he said.
Ernest Sangua told the council the truck ordinance is like only allowing one car to be parked.
“If you’re married and have two cars, then your husband or wife has to take you to a parking lot to get your car.”
Sherry York said that if people want a truck ordinance, then they should move into a gated community.
“This is our business and it’s not fair to take away our business,” she argued.
Petrullo said the trucking ordinance is another example of the city going through growing pains.
“Ten years ago, we had only 47,000 people. In 10 years, the population has doubled,” she said. “Traffic has increased and neighborhoods have increased. When I moved here the desert surrounded me and now people surround me. That’s a part of what’s happening. They remember sleepy little suburb Rio Rancho, but now we are a viable ever-growing city and things have to change.”
More than a year ago, Salzman and District 2 councilor Patricia Thomas co-sponsored a truck ordinance.
On the first reading on Jan. 10, the vote was 4-0. Petrullo, Salzman, Naranjo and then-councilor Michael Williams voted for the ordinance. Howard Balmer and Thomas were absent.
On the second reading Jan. 24, the ordinance failed, with Naranjo, Petrullo and Williams switching their votes. Salzman, Thomas and Howard Balmer voted for the ordinance and then-mayor Kevin Jackson broke the tie by voting against the ordinance.
In February, the council, at the behest of Jackson, appointed a six-person task force to study the issue. The task force was composed of two people from the trucking industry, two people from neighborhood associations and two city staff members.
Salzman said she has received several calls from residents complaining of big trucks in their neighborhood.
“One complaint came from someone in my district who woke up early one morning to find a 50 foot Mayflower moving van parked next door to his home,” she said. “Now, there are two Mayflower vans in District 6 alone. Another complaint came from a resident who lives off Idalia, where up to five tractor trailers are parked on a daily basis on a half-acre lot, even though the homeowner claims they are not running a business.”
Salzman said she is worried that without a truck ordinance, the real estate market will suffer.
“It’s helping everyone who has purchased a home here and expects quiet enjoyment and a reasonable return on their investment when they sell,” she said. “Several out of town prospective home buyers have contacted me to let me know that the reason why they didn’t purchase a home in Rio Rancho was because there was no ordinance on the books that prevented this from happening. They looked all over the city and saw commercial vehicles parked everywhere.”
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