Some semi-truck owners preparing to sue Palm Beach County

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — A dispute involving Palm Beach County and people who live in Loxahatchee and the Acreage appears to be headed to court.

The issue is whether dozens of people can keep semi trucks parked in their yard and driveway at their home.

An attorney for two semi-truck owners says he's getting ready to file a lawsuit against the county.

Some people in Loxahatchee and the Acreage say the county has no business telling them they can't park their semis on their own property, where they live.

"They're defending their livelihood out there, that's what this suit, this lawsuit is about. It's about their livelihood," said Christopher Mills, an attorney in West Palm Beach.

The owners of semi-trucks are squaring off for a legal battle with Palm Beach County.

They're not happy with a recent decision by the county commission, that says they can not have their semi's parked at their houses in Loxahatchee and The Acreage, two rural areas in the county with mostly two-lane roads.

"The county has not enforced this ordinance in over 20 years and now all of a sudden through an interpretation of the whole code they are trying to eradicate these folks' rights and take these folks' rights they've had for 20 years," Mills said.

Mills, an attorney who represents two semi-truck owners, says there are certain state and federal laws that preempt the county from interfering with commerce, so the county has no authority to stop people from parking semi's at their homes.

"We need to support people who are working hard to support their families. Give them a place to be and exist,'" said Sara Baxter, Palm Beach County Commissioner, District 6.

Baxter's district includes The Acreage and Loxahatchee and she says she hopes the county can work out a plan to issue permits to people who already have semi trucks, to let them park up to two semis where they live on their property.

"We don't want to waste dollars on needless lawsuits," she said.

Baxter says the county commission would have to approve a plan to issue special permits to people who already have semi trucks parked at their homes to allow them to keep doing that.

She says semi truck owners really have no where else to go to find parking for their semi trucks and if they can find a place, it would cost them hundreds of dollars a month.