Burr Ridge Pickup Truck Rule Called 'Nitpicky'

BURR RIDGE, IL — Burr Ridge's code bans residents from leaving their pickup trucks with toolboxes outside their houses overnight.

In a blue-collar town, such a rule may seem unusual. But it's apparently accepted in a wealthy suburb such as Burr Ridge, which has a median household income of $160,000.

Last month, a couple on 74th Street were notified by the village that it had received a complaint they had a pickup truck with a tool storage bin and that it was parked outside overnight. The village said it does not investigate code issues until it receives a complaint.

In a letter to the Village Board this week, the wife said her husband's truck was a means of transportation, not just a work truck. The toolbox, she said, is his trunk, where they put groceries and other items when they go shopping.

"When he is working, he leaves the house by 5 a.m. and is gone for the entire day. I'm pretty confident that our neighbors are not the ones complaining," she said.

She said they have had a pickup truck parked outside for the two decades they have lived in the house and were unaware of the regulation.

"We have not done this deliberately, and I feel we are being singled out for no reason," she said.

In an email to Village Hall, Trust Zach Mottl said the letter to the couple was a "discriminatory application" of the code. He suggested the village fix "ridiculous, nitpicky ordinances" that are used "against hard-working residents like those folks who are just trying to do their jobs and not cause a problem."

In an email to Mottl on Friday, Trustee Guy Franzese the portion of the ordinance about pickup trucks was last updated in 2006.

"Since the ordinance was last updated, pickup trucks have become more common place and bed storage boxes have become more common place as well," Franzese said. "I have asked that the topic of commercial vehicles be researched further by Staff and that commercial vehicles be discussed at a future Plan Commission meeting and a future Board meeting."