OKEECHOBEE -- Watermelon trucks on SW 67^th Drive were a topic of discussion at the April 10 meeting of the Okeechobee County Commission.

Commissioner Terry Burroughs said he has received complaints from residents about the trucks hauling watermelons to and from the ranch at the end of SW 67^th Drive.

He asked what the county could do and if the commission wants to attempt to do anything about the trucks. He noted the Right to Farm Act may limit what the county can do.

County Attorney Zackery Good said under Agricultural Use, a packing operation is incidental to agriculture. “If the packing is occurring from a single source – you are packing your own produce – that falls under the Right to Farm Act,” he explained.

He said the county does have jurisdiction to regulate its roads.  However, “you have to regulate all trucks of a similar kind the same way,” he warned.

“We can’t do anything in terms of the packing house concept because it is a single source,” said Burroughs. “We can control the weight of the trucks.”

He said the county can also regulate the speed on that road.

“I do believe we can manage the hours of operation on that road,” added Burroughs. “We did that last year already.”

“The man is finished whenever he does his crop,” said Commission Chair David Hazellief. “He’s already got another piece of property. By the time you get something in effect, watermelon season is going to be over. Six weeks and it’s gone.”

Hazellief pointed out that SW 67^th Drive was constructed to go to the ranch. Housing developments in the area came later.

County Administrator Deborah Manzo said the county can regulate road use by category but not by citizen.

She said weight limits would not be just for the watermelons but would be for the other trucks as well.

Commissioner Brad Goodbread suggested truck use could be limited to daylight hours.

Commissioner Michael Sumner said this could be problematic.

“There’s a lot of people who live there who may be hooking up a horse trailer at 5 a.m.,” said Sumner.

Burroughs asked the county attorney to review the agreement about the mining operation on the ranch.

“I want to clear up some controversy before it gets out of hand,” he said.

“I’m pro farmer, pro horse trailer, pro everything,” said Goodbread. He suggested limits could be made on commercial vehicles.

“That ranch could cut sod or be farmed. There could be more to it than what we’ve got going on,” said Commissioner Frank DeCarlo.

If it’s not the will of the board to regulate hours, they could lower speed limit to 25 mph, Good suggested.

“Watermelon trucks are going too slow for most of the people,” Goodbread responded.

Manzo said they would have to do a traffic study before changing speed limits.

“If you put a speed limit sign out there, no one is going to pay attention to it and we’ll have to have the deputies out there,” said Burroughs.

He said the residential communities in that area are growing. “We are going to have to start thinking about the residents,” he added.