BALTIMORE — A Baltimore community is losing most, if not all of its convenience store trucks.
Residents in the Cherry Hill neighborhood are not happy about it.
Those in the community say those vehicles served a purpose by helping people in their community.
MORE: Convenience store trucks, resource for many in Baltimore community, told to leave
People who live there, and own the trucks, feel like they’re getting the run around from the Baltimore Housing Authority trying to figure out a solution.
Part of a statement sent out by the Housing Authority says some people in the community need a place to park, and that’s why those vehicles had to leave.
However, some residents said that’s not true and they believe they’re getting mixed messages from the Housing Authority.
“A lot of people don’t even have cars so how are we taking a parking spot for the residents,” Cherry Hill resident Shawntay Curry said. “We don’t have parking passes. We park wherever we want”
The Housing Authority claims those convenience store trucks are illegally parked and unauthorized to be there, despite the services being there for decades.
MORE: Protest to keep convenience store trucks in Cherry Hill
Curry said her brother owns one of those resource trucks, and on Monday morning, he had to move it off the Cherry Hill homes property for fear it would be towed.
“If they don’t have the trucks, how they gone pay the bills,” Curry said. “That’s how he provides for his family, like that’s his business, so like it’s just crazy that we’re going through this.”
Residents say, considering their community is in a food dessert, the store trucks in the area are beneficial for families.
“There’s so many times I go up there and try to get toilet paper,” Curry said. “I can’t get none out there, but if I go to one of these trucks, guess what, I’m getting toilet paper. If I run out of soap...if I run out of toothpaste, they ain’t got it up there, guess what? The trucks got it.”
Last Friday, the Housing Authority gave letters to residents part of which read, “in efforts to provide a better quality of life for Cherry Hill residents, they initiated efforts to remove this nuisance activity for their properties.”
“Everything we need for our houses be on them trucks,” Curry said.
WMAR-2 asked the Housing Authority if there was a resolution that allows residents to keep the convenience store trucks.
Part of the Housing Authority’s response read:
“We are trying to balance the wishes of our residents who need places to park versus the need for these daily items that some residents enjoy the convenience of having access to. We are perfectly fine if the trucks park on the street and offer these same services.”
However, when asking the Housing Authority which streets were OK for the trucks to park, they referred WMAR to the city.
“They say you can park on the streets and you won’t tow but that’s where most of the buses was, so why tow them?" Curry said.
Community members organized a peaceful protest about this issue Sunday night and they have another one planned this week.
They said they’re hoping they can get some solid answers as to when and where they will be allowed to park the trucks so they can continue helping people in this community.
