While Councilor Soehl has done very little in his two terms, besides brow beating public inputers like a unruly child, he did surprise his fellow councilors today with his passionate defense of gigantic trucks that only belong in gravel pits with the governor’s dead dogs.
A new councilor, not Lucy the cement bucket lady, but Jennifer Sigette has proposed an ordinance that previous chickensh!t councils and parking department gurus wouldn’t pull the trigger on; if you have a gigantic truck, don’t park it on these four blocks on Phillips Avenue.
Pretty simple, but Curtis the Blurtist wasn’t having it!
“What if a bunch of my podunk relatives who only drive gigantic farm trucks from Woonsocket came downtown to shop at all the luxury boutiques, buy rare antiques at Zandbroz, have a steak meal at Crawfords or Minervas right before taking in the Symphony at the Pavilion after getting this ticket, they may never come back.”
First off, he didn’t say most of that, but he might as well had. He gave some bullsh!t anecdedote about some farmer visiting from a small town. Yeah, so many boot scraping visitors downtown these days I am surprised it doesn’t smell like cow manure . . . nope, just dead hogs. As someone who has lived and worked in DTSF for over 30 years, the only time you observe ‘Farm Folks’ downtown is when all six of them are trying to read a parking meter and after 10 minutes of frustration get back in their sheep hauler and drive away never to experience some overpriced app at Parker’s.
Besides the safety reasons for passing this ordinance, it is just plain RUDE. So you have a big truck. Good for you. I don’t need one, I drink a couple of Arnold Palmers each day, it seems to cure my fascination with large shiny things.
A guy drives a big truck downtown and then eats at Minervas or Crawford’s. Has that ever really happened? I think most big truck guys would prefer the Arby’s special, or a Sonic chili dog. Because, you can’t get no chili dogs at Minervas, because I’ve tried that one before…. AND, why do big truck guys always have big girlfriends, big trucks, and although they say things come in threes, there’s no way the other one is big, too, enhance the size of their truck and their girlfriend’s misrepresentation. #MonsterTrucks #MonsterBurgerBattle #KeepOnTrucking
#SizeMatters #MyGirlfriendIsBiggerThanYours #ChiliDogNation #TheBiggerTheBetter
Say, does anyone know if Stormy has ever had an Arnold Palmer? #TrumpAtMcDonalds #StormyKnowsBest #SuperSizeMe #TheyAreEatingTheCats #SixPack&APound #HappyMeal #SpecialSauce #MayorMcCheese #PitOfBalls #EatInOrEatOut #GoldenArches? #FastFoodFastTimes #PutTheFriesInTheBag
I do agree with Curt’s opinions here…
This leads to increased tax revenues for the city itself, as for those who so choose to continue parking their F-350 pick ups along Phillips Ave will continue to do so, but now are forced to pay a civil penalty, which is nothing more than a class 2 misdemeanor, just another $90 dollar fine directed to the city treasury. Nothing really stops them from doing so again, they will gladly pay the fine for the convenience of shopping or doing business in Downtown Sioux Falls. A second concern, would be forcing these ‘vehicles’ into the parking garages/ramps which again, costs the residents time and money, pushing further away form the point of which they so choose to conduct their business.
But the # 1 concern is one that you have already made known, an ordinance such as this simply drives people away from Downtown Sioux Falls cause it stereotypically punishes those people who drive big trucks, or long, wheel base, midsize vehicles. I simply do not see any huge concern here, that calls for making this change at this point in time. I truly do not see how larger vehicles impede traffic anymore than the 15 mph speed limit as you pass through Downtown. In fact, to a degree, those larger vehicles perhaps help keep the speeds down, let alone makes people alert of their surroundings.
I would urge the City Council to vote NO on this ordinance change, let alone defer it to a later date, as Joe Batcheler had stated during public commentary. Let the business community have their say.
The State of South Dakota contributes to the need to buy a crew cab dually by how they license trailers. Hauling trailers (not recreational trailers) can be licensed either stand alone or by licensing the truck to include the trailer weight (weight plates). Instead of licensing trucks eligible for weight plates by towing capacity of the truck they license by weight of towing vehicle. So your truck may be rated by Feds to tow 10,000 lbs but the state won’t license it for weight plates if it does not weigh over 6,000 lbs. As a practical matter this means you can’t buy a single cab truck and get weight plates. If you have multiple trailers but tow only one at a time weight plates are cheaper. Many folks don’t want a crew cab dually but it is economically more viable given the number of trailers they have and the license cost differences. The law also discourages business use of smaller electric trucks by lawn services, etc.
I think the proposal would be more viable if the City proposed a place where long vehicles (we don’t want the limousines sticking out either) could be parked. They would also need to base the length restriction on a reasonable length and paint lines on the street so it is easy to tell if you are too long.
When making truck buying decisions I try to follow the advice of the America’s oldest cattle association – Big Bulls Have ShortHorns.
Using this logic, maybe we should create a separate parking lot for motorcycles, too? Nothing pisses me off more than when I turn into what looks like an open parking spot only to see a tiny scooter already there.
And while we are at it, can we please enforce existing parking laws when some out of town rube can’t figure out the proper way to parallel park downtown within a single parking space? I always laugh when some Iowegian has his driver’s door right next to a parking meter – essentially using two spaces for his Buick LeSabre!
What about a special parking spot for e-bikers, too, damn it!
“Defender of the Gigantic Truck”, that sounds like the title of a kids’ book. Or, what if we positioned an incredibily huge gigantic truck near I-90 and turned it into the newest South Dakota tourist trap, that might kind of be cool.
AND, during Sturgis week, they could have girls in bikinis trying to hose it down. I suggest we position it halfway between the Corn Palace and that 1880 Town, what do you all think?….. But make sure to give Al’s Oasis and Dignity their own identities, however…. #GiganticTruckNation #MudTrucks #HoseHerDown
Per the charter, the city is an unconstitutional hearing process. Lawyers collect tickets with a smile. Parking a 3 trailer semi makes no difference. Councilors feel the wrong kind of important. How about focus on something else? Might I suggest return to democracy with a new charter. Trump wants fascism and Hitler generals. Otherwise, whip it out and see if you’d like a big one like Palmer.
It’s because he drives a big truck. Doesn’t matter if it is a safety concern ruining the flow of traffic..