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30-minute staging gets OK in Lathrop
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LATHROP – While it will take a month before the Lathrop City Council gets back its report on truck owner/operators and their feeling about designated truck parking spaces in the community, one of the busiest truck routes in town will soon have new parking and stopping laws.

On Monday the council unanimously approved a recommendation made by city staff that will allow for designated “30 minute parking” sections along portions of D’Arcy Parkway and Murphy Parkway to allow for truck staging while drivers check in with respective businesses regarding their deliveries.

At least one business – Medline Industries – requires that all trucks entering their property be screened before being given the green light to proceed with their respective deliveries. Medline will partner with JC Penney to cover the roughly $2,000 cost to install the signs along the two streets that designate the half-hour stipulation.

Even though the routes cut through what has become Lathrop’s industrial heart, the laws on the books had both D’arcy and Murphy Parkways slated as areas where trucks could not park. The issue with staging and waiting for the green light from businesses caused concern after Lathrop Police Services started enforcing the no parking restrictions and drivers became frustrated because they had nowhere else to go, Lathrop Public Works Director Steve Salvatore said.

An ordinance will be brought back to the council for their meeting later this month for final approval, and the installation of the signage will likely come after that.

Nobody spoke in opposition to the proposed change in Lathrop’s Municipal Code.

The focus on truck parking has been an issue in Lathrop for some time. Proposals to regulate truck parking before the council as many as five or six different times with no major changes being made in that time.

On Monday the council voted 3-2 to open up a window that will allow for staff to contact truck owner/operators in town regarding designated parking spaces. They will bring the information back before them for further discussion and possible action.

Concern has already been raised by people in the community like former Mayor and current Fire Board Chair Gloryanna Rhodes about the impacts that long-term truck parking will have on city owned property in terms of pollution and the impacts on surface ground water.