A handicapped Florida handyman was fined $345 by his city and faces additional charges each month for parking his work truck in his driveway – as officials claim he is breaking the city’s municipal code.
Bali Ramnarace was ordered to remove his 10-foot commercial box truck from his Boynton Beach property, a request he says would make his life more difficult because of his physical limitations.
“It’s ridiculous what they’re doing to people. People make a living by this,” Ramnarace told WPTV.
The single father, who is at the center of a civil lawsuit with the Palm Beach County city, asked to be “grandfathered” in because he’s been parking the vehicle in his own driveway for 45 years, and it physically helps him each day.
“I think they should have some consideration, because I’m handicapped and this is very convenient when this is here at my house,” Ramnarace said. “That’s how I make a living, without that I can’t do anything.”
Boynton Beach City officials argued Ramnarace’s truck violates the municipal code, which is aimed at regulating vehicles in residential areas.
The code, Chapter 14 Section 14-3, is intended to protect “property values and character of property within residential areas” by eliminating larger vehicles, including trucks, tractors, heavy equipment and buses from parking in certain neighborhoods for more than 15 minutes.
Ramnarace said his vehicle meets all allowed specifications except for it being labeled as a “truck.”
“I always do what they say, 10-foot box truck, single axle, no more than 16,000 pounds in weight, this is only 5,900,” he told the outlet.
Along with the $345 fine, Ramnarace would be fined an additional $75 for each month he continues to violate the policy.
The handyman, who uses the truck to carry material for his job, hasn’t developed a backup parking plan if he caves to the city’s pressure.
“I don’t know what I have to do, they did not say where we can park it,” he added.
In February, the city updated its code for “Stopping, standing, parking, or storage prohibited in specified places.”
The updated ordinance implemented heavy restrictions on parking in both commercial and residential neighborhoods, including parking vehicles in a yard, swale or street, and only parking in driveways unless for a temporary, approved event, including “open houses” and short, personal gatherings, according to the city.
Residents fumed at the February approvals, as a crackdown on homeowners not living in a homeowner association.
“We literally can’t park our cars anywhere except for our yards, and if you don’t have a yard, you’re screwed,” Cristina Super previously told WPTV. “We also don’t live in an HOA and they’re forcing their ordinance on us.”
Bonafair, the city’s director of the public safety department, pushed back against claims it was a revenue-making system, saying it was a “public safety issue.”
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