Truck Parking Increased At Old Cookeville Mall; No Ordinances Against

Cookeville Community Development Director Jon Ward said the city has no ordinances against trucks parking for long hours in the Cookeville Mall parking lot.

In recent weeks, tractor trailers can be seen lined along the Interstate 40 fence of the former mall. A citizen voiced concern after almost being hit on two different occasions by tractor trailers pulling out of the parking lot. Ward said ordinances exist prohibiting trucks to park in residential areas, but regulating trucks on commercially zoned properties causes confusion.

“Those trucks are being parked on private property, right,” Ward said. “I mean that’s not in a city right-of-way or anything like that, so we don’t have any regulation that prohibits it. A lot of the commercial businesses rely on those trucks for their deliveries”

Ward said many businesses let the trucks park in their lots overnight to make the delivery of inventory easier. Ward said he would encourage any concerned citizens to contact the city to discuss any issues they might have.

“I’d like to understand what the issue is, and see if there is some tool we do have available we can use to address something,” Ward said. “I certainly don’t want to hear somebody feel like there is an unsafe condition out there because something going on. I’d like to know if there’s anything we could do and learn more about it.”

“If trucks aren’t yielding when they’re pulling out, just like every driver on the road right, we all have to obey the rules of driving a vehicle, and that’s something our police department would look into,” Ward said.