Trucks are parking everywhere in Manteca where they are not supposed to — along Moffat Boulevard, along Airport Way just south of the 120 Bypass, and even in orchards across from new housing developments.

The municipal code is fairly clear that trucks with a gross weight of four tons or more are prohibited from streets that are not designated truck routes unless they are using them for “the purpose of making pickups or deliveries of goods, wares and merchandise from or to any building or structure located on such restricted streets or for the purpose of delivering materials to be used in the actual and bona fide repair, alteration, remodeling or construction of any building or structure upon such restricted streets for which a building permit has previously been obtained therefor.”

Section 10.52.030 means overnight parking — or whatever part of the day the drivers are home — of such trucks is essentially illegal. This is a correct interpretation because once upon the time without the public having to ask the Manteca Police Department to enforce the law, the city used to clear out trucks that had made sections of Moffat Boulevard at times look like the parking lot at the Flying J Travel Plaza in Ripon.  

And here’s the zinger. The reason the city did it is because it was creating visual blight that prompted other people to dump their trash along Moffat and was impeding the municipal effort to clean up the corridor. It also posed safety and visual line issues. At least one pedestrian — a Manteca High cross country runner — suffered serious injuries when crossing Moffat because a truck parked there by the driver while he was at home partially blocked the view. While that didn’t cause the accident, it contributed to it.

The rationale behind the ordinance is even more basic. Most streets are not designed for heavy truck use. Unwarranted use — including parking them when the driver goes home — accelerates the wear and tear on city streets. And we all know how well the city can afford to do street maintenance.

The trucks are once again returning to Moffat as the drivers park them there and then are picked up and driven to their home that is often not even in a nearby neighborhood.

Some residents — including those on South Main Street — are getting fed up with buyers of new homes in nearby subdivisions who use the edge of orchards to park their trucks while at home. Making it all the more ironic is there are several locales just outside the city limits — including on nearby South Manteca Road — where property owners charge nominal monthly fees for truck parking by either independent operators or drivers who take their rigs home.

One Manteca resident, who asked that his name not be used, shared his growing frustrations on the issue of illegal truck parking.

“The issue I have with the trucks on Main Street should be clear as the sign that states “no trucks over four tons yet every day I see at least 50 to 100 trucks daily passing thru. This has become more of an issue as the owner/drivers of said trucks have bought houses in the housing track that the city (allowed to be built) and yet this city fails to address this issue. I have filed at least three complaints to (the City of Manteca) about this and other issues. Since I lived here in the same spot for over 36 years it wasn’t until the road being open almost a year that it has gotten this bad. From speeding and using the left turn lane as a passing lane to trucks using the orchard to park their rigs blocking the rows from the farmer needing to spray their trees also parking a few inches from the edge of the road causing a traffic hazard as other vehicles need to use the turning lane to avoid hitting them. Now it is starting to look like a Flying J parking lot with as many as five trucks using it as their own parking even though they have been told not to park there. They have dumped trash and I even saw one take a white bucket and dump something in the orchard who knows what? A few weeks back a truck with a refer trailer parked across the intersection and left it over night with the refer running. 

“I and the farmer have complained to this city that calls itself a Family City yet they refuse to do anything about it saying it is not their problem. Really?  They are the ones who created it so they should do something about it. I and the farmer shouldn’t have to play cop and make them move. I have also complained about the city not having any speed limit set for this road (even though their website says it is 45 from Woodward to Sedan) and as the traffic and congestion from the bypass is using this as a way to get around from the back upped Bypass driving sometimes at over 70 mph making a safety hazard for me or my wife to get our mail. The traffic is now less than 30 feet from my home since they widened the road 12 feet my way and the speeding semis going by make for a lot of noise and vibration inside my once quiet home. This city needs to step up to the plate and give the people of Manteca a home run not a foul ball like they give us now. 

“And now they have convinced the farmer to sell out so they can put 1,200 plus homes with light commercial across the street from me widening the road to four lanes with a median down the middle making me have to go almost a mile around just to get to my driveway. This city is looking more like a garbage dump for homes than a Family City.”

Given the gentleman and the farmer have complained, perhaps the city’s “unwritten rule” that the municipal code is only enforced when residents complain is all talk and no action.

Meanwhile truckers keep on parking.