The Independence City Council continued discussions about city regulations of utility trailers at their meeting Monday night, following a vote from the Kenton County Planning Commission in November to table discussions on revisions to the city’s ordinance.
Independence began regulating trailers in the 2000s after the city’s code enforcement department started getting complaints about trailers either parked obstructively on streets or kept in blighted condition. The issue resurfaced last year after city council member Chris Vogelpohl began speaking with residents who were either critical of or confused by the ordinance as it was written.
The city’s current ordinance prohibits parking boats, campers and other large trailers on public streets. Smaller flatbed trailers can be stored in a side yard if the owners obtain a conditional use permit, and people can park flatbeds on public streets for up to 72 hours.
The proposed changes that came before the planning commission in November would have extended the 72-hour limit to 96 hours and would have allowed flatbeds to be stored in private driveways permanently if they were kept clean and unladen. Boats and other larger towed vehicles could be parked on private driveways but only for 96 hours under the new proposals. Finally, the November proposal added the definition of a flatbed trailer as an open trailer with a length no greater than 30 feet from tongue to bumper, not including any gates, a height no greater than five feet and a width no greater than eight feet.
The Kenton County Planning and Development Services staff recommended against changes to the city ordinance the council had submitted to the planning commission. Megan Bessey, a project manager with the county, said the proposed regulations would allow for the permanent storage of trailers on private drives, disrupting the residential character of neighborhoods. She also said the language in the proposed changes did not provide enough clarity and information.
Likewise, the commissioners expressed confusion about some of the language in the proposal. Rather than vote the changes down, the commission voted to table discussions so that the city could continue to refine the ordinance and resubmit a new proposal.
Vogelpohl and city administrator Chris Moriconi had met with officials and staff members at Kenton County Planning and Development in the interval between the November commission meeting and Monday’s council meeting to explore revisions that would make the ordinance enforceable. These notably included new weight and length limits for trailers and other hauled vehicles, 18,000 pounds and 39 feet, respectively.
Discussion at Monday’s meeting yielded two key proposed changes. First, the definition of a trailer was revised to allow trailer side walls of up to three feet from the bed of the trailer. It also changed wording in the proposed ordinance to allow for up to two axles on each trailer.
No residents attended the meeting to speak about the changes, but one resident, Patrick Sandfoss, had written a letter to Mayor Chris Reinersman expressing his displeasure.
“I would like to express my opposition to this trailer proposal,” Reinersman paraphrased from Sandfoss’s letter. “It’s going to make the city trashier. Where will this end? What’s next? Why would the council do this our city?”
The council did not respond to Sandfoss’s comments.
Moriconi said that Kenton County Planning and Development would likely recommend against the resubmitted proposal, even with the new changes. The council, however, can override the planning commission’s recommendation with at least four votes in favor of the ordinance if it comes to that.
Moriconi hoped that a final version of the ordinance would come before the council either in February or March of next year.
The next meeting of the Independence City Council will take place on Jan. 8, 2024 at 7 p.m. at the Independence City Building on Madison Pike.