Trucker not alone in parking battle

For almost three years, Rick Kaspar has parked his truck on weekends in front of his home on Kitchen Drive.

"Why, all of a sudden are they after me?" he asked a little bewildered at all of the citations and warnings he's been given during the past three weeks.

His dilemma is one that not only plagues truckers, but anyone with a motorhome, trailer, broken down car or other item wished to be stored on the street.

"Parking problems will always haunt those who make their living on the road," said Kurt Davis, motor officer with Carson Sheriff's Department. "There's not much they can do."

Kaspar said it doesn't seem fair that he is being targeted by the Sheriff's Department. He said that he comes home on Friday night, parks his tractor, washes it, and then on Monday morning is on the road again. He said he's never brings home his trailer.

"It's just not fair," he said. "There's a trailer down that street that's been parked there all the time. I don't see him getting the tickets."

Kaspar said that he makes his living on the road and to find a place to park off the street is not only inconvenient but costly as well. The inconvenience comes during the winter when the truck must be plugged into an electrical outlet to keep an engine-block heater working.

The cost comes from renting space, he said.

"It's my livelihood," he said. "Added cost just eats away at my take-home pay."

Kaspar said that he bought the home on the Kitchen Drive because it was a nice residential neighborhood. He didn't think he was imposing on the neighbors.

Davis said that that is the norm for parking enforcement. He said that the office is often the first to be neglected when emergencies and such arise.

"We may get called out to help on patrol, which takes us away from our normal duties of enforcement," he said.

Davis said its a good reminder to not only "big rigs" but to everyone who may want to store an automobile or other item on the street.

"There are very strict ordinances about this sort of thing," he said. "But mostly, the street is not to be used for dead storage."

In Kaspar's case, Davis said the call probably resulted from a distressed neighbor who didn't want to look at the truck any more.

Kaspar said he hadn't heard from any of his neighbors.

"If it had been bothering them that bad, why didn't they come to me," he said.

The city has given him a number of citations, and notices to move. Kaspar said he hasn't given up working with the city's enforcement officers, but said he will protest further citations.