After the Town of Poughkeepsie passed an ordinance prohibiting trucks over five tons from making deliveries on Sheafe Road between the hours of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m, Tilcon New York, Inc.--owner and operator of a quarry and asphalt plant on that road--sought an order declaring the law unconstitutional and preempted by the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law.
When the Dutchess County Supreme Court denied Tilcon’s request, the company appealed to the Appellate Division, Second Department, which affirmed the outcome--finding that a municipality has the power to pass reasonable ordinances controlling the weight and size of vehicles on its streets and limiting the hours during which deliveries may be made.
The AD2 also saw the restriction as a valid exercise of Poughkeepsie’s “police power,” which carried with it a strong presumption of constitutionality which Tilcon wasn't able to rebut. (The company needed to show that the ordinance had “no substantial relationship to the public health, safety, or general welfare.”)
Silence is worth 10,000 pounds.
To view a copy of the Appellate Division’s decision, please use this link: Matter of Tilcon N.Y., Inc. v Town of Poughkeepsie