New Law Gives Early Rising Trucker a Rude Awakening

Truck driver Christopher Trebon says he was just trying to make a living. His neighbors say they were just trying to get some sleep.

Such were the basic elements of a lengthy and acrimonious squabble that pitted the Bell and Levine families against Trebon, who sometimes parked his 17,000-pound truck in the driveway of his modest Santa Clarita house on Lochmoor Road. The Levines and Bells said the truck was a noisy nuisance that disrupted their sleep and did not belong in a residential neighborhood.

Among other things, the dispute led to a 21-count criminal complaint against Trebon, a $1-million lawsuit against the Bells and Levines and, most recently, the passage of a city ordinance banning commercial big rigs from parking in residential areas.

With some understatement, Trebon said Wednesday: “It’s a touchy issue.”

It all started, both sides agree, about seven years ago when Trebon began parking his 400-horsepower Peterbilt truck on Lochmoor Road. That, however, is about the last item of agreement.

David Bell and Laurie Levine, who live on opposite sides of Trebon, said they tried to be neighborly and ignored the truck at first. Only after Trebon began revving up the engine at 6 a.m.--or as early as 4:43 a.m.--did the families complain to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, they said. Bell also said he tried to discuss the problem with Trebon calmly and rationally but said Trebon refused to talk to him.

But Trebon said his neighbors never complained to him directly and instead went straight to the authorities. Trebon said he parked the truck at the house only for a few days at a time to clean it out after a long trip. He rents a space at a long-term parking lot for the $102,000 truck and the $36,000 trailer it pulls.

Trebon admitted starting the truck as early as 5:15 a.m. a few times, but he denied allegations that revving the engine was a regular part of his morning routine.

In response to complaints by the Bells and Levines, authorities investigated and the district attorney’s office charged Trebon with a two counts of disturbing the peace and 19 counts of illegally parking the truck between February and July last year.

A Municipal Court judge dismissed the charges July 13, 1989, saying that the existing parking ordinance was vaguely worded and did not apply to driveways and residential property.

Trebon sued his neighbors for $500,000 each, alleging malicious prosecution. That case also was dismissed by a judge.

The dispute led to a review of the city’s parking laws, and on Tuesday the Santa Clarita City Council voted to ban commercial rigs over 12,000 pounds from residential neighborhoods.

The action outraged truckers. Some said they park their big rigs at home because, unlike Trebon, they cannot afford or find a convenient commercial parking lot for their trucks.

“They want us to disappear without having any place to go to,” trucker Mark Crammer complained to the council.

“I’d like to know why this valley wants to discriminate against us truckers,” Gene Owens said.

Mayor Jo Anne Darcy said the city is not trying to drive truckers out of business. City officials are trying to locate private property owners who would be willing to start commercial lots somewhere in the city. Four property owners have shown some interest in such an enterprise, city officials said.

Trebon, meanwhile, said the dispute basically was a conflict of lifestyles.

“I’m not living life the way they want life lived,” he said.