Carpentersville cracks down on overweight buses parked at homes

There may be enough room to park school buses on some private driveways, but Carpentersville village board members say there's no way to fit the buses into the village's heavy vehicle ordinance.

Trustees revisited the ordinance during a special meeting Saturday, ending hopes a compromise could be reached to allow a group of bus drivers from Barrington Unit District 220 to continue parking their school buses at home.

Last week, trustees approved an amendment permitting vehicles up to 10,000 pounds to park on streets and driveways.

The previous provision, passed in 1995, limited the gross vehicle weight to 8,000 pounds.

Now, vehicles weighing between 8,000 and 10,000 pounds must purchase a special village sticker.

But some bus drivers said they stored their buses, which weigh about 14,000 pounds, at home for more than 20 years and never received a notice of violation.

That's not a strong enough argument for continuing to permit buses in driveways, village attorney James Rhodes counters.

"People have had 14 years to comply," Rhodes said. "The fact of the matter is, not knowing isn't a defense for not complying. You just didn't get caught."

Some trustees suggested issuing the bus drivers a special use permit, but Rhodes cautioned against that practice because it would be a "permit to break the law."

Village President Ed Ritter said the board attempted to accommodate the buses, "but we couldn't fit them in, so we have to move them out."

Bus driver Linnea Jaquet, who drives a special needs van and has parked a bus in her driveway for 11 years, said the ordinance would cause a hardship for drivers who must now park outside the village and travel back and forth between routes, adding about 12 trips a day.

"The don't want buses, period," Jaquet said after the meeting. "The ordinance may have been in effect 14 years ago, but we didn't know about it. If they had told us or the company that we couldn't park our buses, none of us would be here."

The ban on school buses is effective immediately since the buses never complied with the village's ordinance.