CORNWALL – The city will be clamping down on people – specifically contractors – who use utility trailers to store stuff in their front yard.
The Cornwall Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) endorsed a change Thursday to the zoning bylaw parking standards to not allow parking and storage of trailers on the front yard setback of homes, if the trailers are being used solely for permanent storage.
The housekeeping item doesn’t go so far as to completely prohibit trailers on the front yard setback or in residential areas altogether, meaning contractors who park their trailers in their driveway for the night or for a few days between jobs would not be affected.
The bylaw had addressed RVs and school buses but did not address contractor or utility trailers. Utility trailers and contractor trailers are defined as being 5-30 feet (1.5-9 meters) and are closed-in or flatbed.
Coun. Andre Rivette was concerned a complete prohibition would create a bigger problem with people parking their trailers on the road.
Karl Doyle, the city’s zoning and site control coordinator, told PAC the city has received a number of complaints.
Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy, referencing the good-looking contractor trailers in the PAC presentation, suggested the complaints they are getting are not about these types of trailers but the rattier looking ones. “It’s a property standards issue,” he said.
The front yard is the entire width of a property from the front facade of a home or building to the front yard property line – typically 19.68 feet (6 meters) deep.
The recommendation by PAC still has to be passed by the full city council.