PRINCE GEORGE'S RESIDENTS (Bowie) PLEASE READ - NEED IMMIDIATE HELP ! (Takoma Park: fit in, rent)

[Ewelina1028]

Hello Everyone

We just moved to Bowie, MD a month ago. We love the area and everything but we received a notice from the City of Bowie that we are not allowed to park our commercial vehicle in the driveway because it looks bad :/ I won't fit in the garage and they told us that it is completly up to us what we do with it. We are self-employed so there is no way we can park the car in the office or somewhere and also parking just anywhere will not cut because the tools and whatever is inside are too expensive. There is no way we can just get rid of our car because my husband makes money with it and we have to live off of something. We did not know about it before we moved here, we even called the owner that had the house before us and said that he never heard of that...

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone has similar problem... How did you handel it?? Any advises are appriciated... Thanks so much

[dkf747]

Commercial vehicle? Sounds like more than a van.

[North Beach Person]

Several towns in MD have that ordinance. Takoma Park being another one. The only exemption I have ever heard of being granted was in Takoma Park for a tow truck since the driver was on call.

If that's not your situation you're probably stuck.

[Ewelina1028]

Originally Posted by dkf747

Commercial vehicle? Sounds like more than a van.

It is a box truck actually... It not like we can just get rid of it in few days :/

[bowian]

You can't park on the street either? Is your lot large enough for a separate garage in which the vehicle can fit? Can you rent a space on a nearby shopping center parking lot? My ex's sister did that once, when she had several 15-passenger vans that she used for a business.

[jland]

Without having read the actual ordinance, and relying completely on what you have said, I'd say off hand that the ordinance is weak, and could be challanged. When they say "commercial vehicle", do they include company cars used by traveling salesmen, or by employees of car dealerships, or a limo owned by a limo driver, OR are they targeting vehicles commonly used by people in the construction trades (which would be on its face to be discriminatory, being based on socio-economic status).
If their standard is that it "don't look pretty", then any vehicle that shows rust or collision damage fits that category.
You might want to check it out with a lawyer with a bone to pick with the city.

Just my two cents....

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Hardly seems friendly to the working man.

[Ribbit]

Does it state which residential zone you are living in? There are different rules for different zones. I think you might be compliant if your commercial vehicle doesn't have any business lettering/signs on the side. Is that doable? Or too costly?

Here's a link to the City Code. Do a search on commercial vehicle to see what applies.

City Code (http://www.cityofbowie.org/Government/Code/code.asp - broken link)

[webmss]

All you need to do is cover the company name on the truck.

[MaybeMDorME?]

Maybe have your truck painted a plain color and use a magnetic sign for your business? Or put a little window in the box truck and call it a family car.... are there motor homes parked around there? I don't think a box truck is that much worse than a big SUV.... maybe with a blacked out side window you could call it that...... My sister used to live in Bowie and had a piano business, she drove a box truck as her family car and parked it in the driveway however that was 25 years ago when things were a lot different.

I would look carefully at their definition of a commercial vehicle and see how you can fit between the cracks. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.