If Collingwood's new comprehensive zoning bylaw is passed, residents will be allowed to park one commercial vehicle on their property.

However, Council still has to determine if residents will be allowed to park that vehicle in their driveway.

Senior planner Trevor Houghton presented a definition of commercial vehicles and a series of provisions that will be included in the comprehensive zoning bylaw that will be presented to council at the end of July.

Houghton said planning staff used the Ministry of Transportation definition as a guideline and defined a commercial vehicle as a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of more than 4,500 kilograms.

The gross vehicle weight is a combination of the vehicle's weight and the load is can carry.

This could include: cube vans, catering trucks, tow trucks, hearses or limos.

Under the provisions in the zoning bylaw the vehicle can only be parked on a residential property that has a main building. Houghton said some residents have parked vehicles on vacant lots. Under the bylaw, the vehicle must be parked within the legal boundaries of the lot.

"We frown on that," he said. "If you want to have a commercial vehicle, you have to have a house."

The vehicle can have a maximum gross weight of 8,000 kgs, a bumper-to-bumper length of 7.5 metres (24 feet) and a maximum height of 3.2 metres (10.5 feet).

Houghton said it's preferred that the vehicle is parked in an enclosed building such as a garage, but recognizes not everyone has a garage.

If you choose to park your vehicle on your property in your side yard, it must be at least .5 metres (1.5 feet) from your neighbours property and must be "screened," by either a privacy fence or trees. If you wish to park it in your rear yard, it must be one metre (three feet) from the rear lot line.

If you live on a corner lot, under the provisions, you will not be allowed to park the vehicle on your exterior side lot. The interior side yard set backs are the same as standard lots but the rear yard setbacks are three metres from the rear lot line.

All of these numbers can be changed by council. Houghton said the reason for the screening is to soften the aesthetic blow to the neighbours.

Houghton said council still has to make the decision on whether or not to allow vehicles to park in the driveway.

Councillor Mike Edwards asked if the planning dept. had thought about a permit system for commercial vehicles.

Councillor Sonny Foley said the .5 metre setback was not enough. He said the trees would need at least that much space to grown and then "there wouldn't be enough room to get in the vehicle."

Councillor Ian Chadwick suggested that a provision be included that the commercial vehicle policy is only for those who don't have a commercial address.

"We don't want people to bring home commercial vehicles if they have another address," Chadwick.

Important dates regarding the comprehensive zoning bylaw:

June 23 - A public open house will be held at town hall from 2-4 p.m., and 7-9 p.m.

July 6 - Council will hold a public planning meeting at town hall to discuss the bylaw. The location has yet to be determined.

July 27 - The bylaw will be presented to council.