\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA debate is growing in Cape Coral over where commercial truck drivers can park, as city officials enforce an ordinance that restricts big rigs from using residential side streets.For Jovonnie Eltagonde, the issue is personal. Her husband, a truck driver, received a citation from Cape Coral police on Christmas Eve after parking his semi-truck along Ceitus Terrace behind businesses near Pine Island Road.\u201cI understand this is a residential area, but it\u2019s just \u2014 where are our trucks supposed to park?\u201d Eltagonde said.When she returned to the truck, Eltagonde said she found an orange sticker warning the vehicle could be towed. Although it was not removed, she said their truck had been towed in the past after being left at a truck stop, costing the family $800.\u201cYou don\u2019t get paid for being out as truckers \u2014 most of them don\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cSo you\u2019re with no pay for two weeks.\u201dDuring a recent visit to Ceitus Terrace, Gulf Coast News observed at least six semi-trucks parked along the roadway without drivers inside. None had citations at the time, but commercial vehicles can be cited if they exceed the allowed parking time.Resident Jim White said trucks are frequently parked in the area, and he does not see them as a problem.\u201cThey\u2019re here all the time,\u201d White said. \u201cMaybe not the same trucks, but there\u2019s always trucks here.\u201dWhite said he opposes the city ordinance, which bans commercial vehicles and trailers from parking more than two hours in public rights-of-way, including residential streets.City officials say the rules are necessary to improve safety and quality of life. City Council recently approved Ordinance 44-25, consolidating parking regulations and establishing a citywide prohibition on parking commercial vehicles and trailers in public rights-of-way.The Cape Coral Police Department enforces the rules under City Ordinance 12-127, which limits where commercial vehicles can park and allows additional restrictions through posted signage. In some areas, commercial vehicles are prohibited from parking overnight between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.Police say violations can result in fines starting at $100, with each day counted as a separate offense, and vehicles may be towed in some cases. Enforcement is largely complaint-driven.Eltagonde said she understands the rules but believes a larger issue remains.\u201cWe need somewhere to go,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re the heartbeat of America.\u201dDOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tCAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
A debate is growing in Cape Coral over where commercial truck drivers can park, as city officials enforce an ordinance that restricts big rigs from using residential side streets.<\/p>\n
For Jovonnie Eltagonde, the issue is personal. Her husband, a truck driver, received a citation from Cape Coral police on Christmas Eve after parking his semi-truck along Ceitus Terrace behind businesses near Pine Island Road.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand this is a residential area, but it\u2019s just \u2014 where are our trucks supposed to park?\u201d Eltagonde said.<\/p>\n
When she returned to the truck, Eltagonde said she found an orange sticker warning the vehicle could be towed. Although it was not removed, she said their truck had been towed in the past after being left at a truck stop, costing the family $800.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t get paid for being out as truckers \u2014 most of them don\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cSo you\u2019re with no pay for two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a recent visit to Ceitus Terrace, Gulf Coast News observed at least six semi-trucks parked along the roadway without drivers inside. None had citations at the time, but commercial vehicles can be cited if they exceed the allowed parking time.<\/p>\n
Resident Jim White said trucks are frequently parked in the area, and he does not see them as a problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re here all the time,\u201d White said. \u201cMaybe not the same trucks, but there\u2019s always trucks here.\u201d<\/p>\n
White said he opposes the city ordinance, which bans commercial vehicles and trailers from parking more than two hours in public rights-of-way, including residential streets.<\/p>\n
City officials say the rules are necessary to improve safety and quality of life. City Council recently approved Ordinance 44-25, consolidating parking regulations and establishing a citywide prohibition on parking commercial vehicles and trailers in public rights-of-way.<\/p>\n
The Cape Coral Police Department enforces the rules under City Ordinance 12-127, which limits where commercial vehicles can park and allows additional restrictions through posted signage. In some areas, commercial vehicles are prohibited from parking overnight between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.<\/p>\n
Police say violations can result in fines starting at $100, with each day counted as a separate offense, and vehicles may be towed in some cases. Enforcement is largely complaint-driven.<\/p>\n
Eltagonde said she understands the rules but believes a larger issue remains.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need somewhere to go,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re the heartbeat of America.\u201d<\/p>\n
DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A debate is growing in Cape Coral over where commercial truck drivers can park, as city officials enforce…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,55507,55505,2675,104,55506,213,29041,55508,27670,55509,4360,13191,2393,6525],"class_list":["post-108393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-ceitus-terrace","tag-commercial-vehicle","tag-driver","tag-entertainment","tag-jovonnie-eltagonde","tag-late-news","tag-ordinance","tag-public-rights-of-way","tag-residential-area","tag-residential-side-street","tag-rule","tag-semi-truck","tag-time","tag-truck"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}