Joliet officials frown at trucks parking in vacant retail lots

City officials are trying to shoo semitrailers out of the parking lots of the former Sears and Kmart stores.

The question of semitrailers parking in the lots of the closed stores arose last week when the Joliet City Council voted to repeal an obscure permit that allowed truck parking on city streets.

“There’s a lot of empty trucks and trailers,” Council member Jan Quillman said regarding the Louis Joliet Mall area. “They’re in the Sears lot.”

Councilman Michael Turk said semitrailers also were being parked in the vacant lot of the closed Kmart store at Jefferson Street and Larkin Avenue.

Turk said he has also seen semitrailers parked in the area of the closed Carson’s store at the mall.

Interim City Manager Steve Jones said he has been getting mixed reports on whether Louis Joliet Mall management or Seritage Growth Properties, the company that owns the Sears space, controls the parking area outside the store.

“Between the mall, Seritage and Sears we should be able to find the truth there and get something done,” Jones told the council.

The Sears closed in January. Kmart has been closed since late 2016.

In a related matter, the council unanimously voted to repeal a little-known permit allowing limited truck parking on streets since 1987 that may never have been used until recently.

City Attorney Martin Shanahan said officials became aware of the permit when someone applied for one recently and brought it to the council because of the number of issues arising concerning trucks.

“Apparently, no one between 1987 and now has asked for a permit,” Shanahan told the council. “With background knowledge of the council and trucks, we thought this probably is not the best thing.”

The permit allowed for street parking of trucks and other large vehicles, but only for 48 hours.

The ordinance governing the permit contained other restrictions, including bans on parking semitrailers within 300 feet of residential areas, and that parking permits be “consistent with the nature and character of the surrounding area.”