Being part of a moving crew is strenuous and taxing work. This is what Joseph Gunthner, the business systems and operations manager of Pro Movers of Cape Coral, says.
As the hot sun bakes the truck loaded with heavy contents, crews toil to ensure all remain in pristine condition, parking as close to the home as possible. This helps limit the amount of time between transporting the contents from the truck onto the property. On top of the already backbreaking work, crews must avoid parking in the customer’s driveway as Gunthner says that when loaded, the trucks are extremely heavy and could damage it. As a result, they typically resort to parking on the road directly in front of the customer’s property. However, Gunthner is worried that come Oct. 1, with the implementation of Ordinance 44-25, this will be much more difficult to sustain.
The approved ordinance would prohibit any business from parking their commercial vehicle within public rights-of-way for a period exceeding two hours while performing a service.
“I mean, it’s just an extra expense that we have to pay for, which then has to revolve into our pricing,” Gunthner said. “It’s not something we want to do. It’s almost as if we are being forced to do so.”
Many Cape Coral business owners and employees are worried about how new Ordinance 44-25 will impact each business that depends on a commercial vehicle, claiming it would harm the business’s profitability and productivity. They say this will add an unnecessary hurdle increasing the difficulty behind already hefty tasks associated with the job while also placing the increased financial burden onto the customers.
“We want to be competitive. We want to stay low,” Gunthner said. “But this time, there’s only so much that we can do until we have to fold our hands.”
The ordinance defines a commercial vehicle as any agricultural, construction or industrial motor vehicle, or any bus, step van, truck or truck tractor—including any vehicle with attached commercial lettering. “Any motor vehicle with tools, building materials or merchandise visible from the street or from abutting property shall be deemed a commercial vehicle,” according to the ordinance on page 18.
Violators will be subject to a $100 fine—$75 if paid within 48 hours of issuance—by a law enforcement or parking enforcement officer. However, businesses performing a job under an approved building permit, like construction crews, are exempt from the ordinance.
For that reason, some smaller businesses that perform jobs not requiring a building permit feel this ordinance unfairly targets them. Kelly Victor, part owner and business manager for the past 26 years of SliderMan, a patio door company that serves Cape Coral, is one of the businesses that say many services they provide could transpire in excess of two hours.
“Absolutely ridiculous,” Victor said. “Roller replacement on a sliding glass door—it could be one door, or it could be five doors. It could be an hour job, or it could be a three-hour job.”
On top of that, Victor says some residences in Cape Coral have no space in their driveways to allow a service provider to park there or simply do not want them to. Therefore, they are forced to utilize the street and public rights-of-way. This leaves businesses and employees, like those at SliderMan, in a tough position.
“How’s our business going to be able to do their work if they can’t park at a customer’s home?”
Business owners and operators are not the only groups in Cape Coral who are concerned about this move.
Ruthie Chiger, a 14-year resident of Cape Coral, is also worried about the impact this ordinance will have on local businesses as well as its residents utilizing the provided services, specifically moving services. She says while she understands how the concept of keeping the roadways clear from blockages makes sense and could reduce liability, she wonders what the cost is to the resident.
“I think that it’s ultimately going to trickle down to the consumer, the residents of Cape Coral,” Chiger said. “It is affecting those little guys who are going to have to pass any cost override, any fine, any anything onto the customer, which the customer is a resident of the city.”
Chiger is not the only Cape Coral resident who feels this way, stressing how there are pros and cons to both sides. Jorge Gonzalez, a Cape Coral resident of two properties since August holds a similar perspective.
“Sometimes people got to move, and when they move, it takes more than two hours,” Gonzalez said. “So that could come back to bite to the consumer in the tail simply because they might factor in that fine if they’re going to be there more time than not.”
At the same time, however, Gonzalez highlights how limiting the number of obstacles within public rights-of-way may help curb vehicle accident statistics in the city. This is where Gonzalez describes the situation as “a double-edged sword.”
“I think not blocking the right-of-way probably is a great safety measure to avoid accidents,” Gonzalez said. “But then again, it might impact the services that are being rendered, and you never know if one day those services may be a life-saving service.”
Chiger says while this may sound like a good idea, she says it’s not the most productive option to paint the entire city with the same brush. She says instead it inhibits “growth and beautification” to the city.
“We are asking people to move to our beautiful city,” Chiger said. “We are asking people to beautify the community and now you’re tying their hands when they want to do it.”
Chiger alternatively suggests a comprehensive plan that specifies certain roads and areas of public rights-of-way where she says there should be a similar rule in place to limit hazards to pedestrians and drivers.
“To me, it’s a one-size-fits-all, and I don’t think our city is that,” Chiger said. “I don’t think that you can apply the same standard on my little side residential circle that you are applying to major thoroughfares like Del Prado, Veterans, and so on.”
Veterans Parkway and Del Prado Boulevard are two major roadways that connect both the eastern and western regions of the city. Del Prado Boulevard is six lanes wide while the majority of Veterans Parkway is four lanes wide with the exception of a six-lane portion running through central Cape.
Instead, Chiger proposes the ordinance should apply to roads with a specific number of lanes or a speed limit greater than 45 mph rather than a blanket policy to the entire city regardless of street specifications. She says this plan will provide better odds for what Kaitlyn Mullen, the city’s senior public information specialist, says the ordinance’s main goal is.
“The ordinance aims to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the city, reducing the obstruction of views of drivers and pedestrians who are attempting to navigate city streets; by reducing impediments to the flow of traffic; and by reducing aggravation to the aesthetic standards of the city,” Mullen said.
Even so, residents of the city remain skeptical regarding how well the currently proposed ordinance will deliver its intended results while business owners and employees of Cape Coral businesses like Victor and Gunthner brace for what’s to come.
“Going forward, we are strategizing, trying to figure out ways to make this work, and how to make it so we don’t get tickets, and we don’t have to raise prices,” Gunthner said. “We want to see what unfolds first. This is a double-edged sword we’re grabbing here, and I don’t think that they realized what they’ve done and how they’ve done it,” Gunthner said.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.