East Penn Township supervisors will allow the owner of a trucking company to put protective blocks in front of a screening fence on his property, according to a motion passed Monday night.

The appearance of Clair Troxell's East Lizard Creek Road property has been the subject of debate at East Penn meetings for around a decade.An ordinance violation and much back-and-forth between the parties ultimately led to Carbon County Judge Joseph Matika issuing a court order calling for Troxell to erect a fence to screen trucks and other items from neighboring properties.The court order also stated Troxell could not have anything stored in front of the fence."I talked to Clair and he wants to put the bricks in front so that a truck doesn't hit the fence and damage it," said Carl Faust, East Penn zoning officer. "He also wants to put the tall jersey barriers in between where he parks trucks and the home next to it. I don't really have a problem with it. If you do hit those blocks, you're going to know you hit something and it will protect the fence."Neighbor Harvey Keiper, who has long been critical of the township's dealings with Troxell, encouraged supervisors to simply enforce the court order."If he put the fence 40 feet back from the centerline of the road, we wouldn't have this problem, but the board let him go back 169 feet," Keiper said. "He's still out there turning trucks around on Route 895 all night. If the fence was up front he could go around the back there and turn around. All the money you spent in court on this guy and you keep catering to him."Monday's vote to allow the blocks in front of the fence and the barrier is contingent upon Troxell signing an agreement with the township and a post-work inspection by Faust.If East Penn approves the signed agreement next month, Troxell will have 30 days to install the blocks and barrier."The blocks will be doing everyone a justice, because if he knocks the fence down, you'll see everything in there behind it again," said Supervisor John Strockoz. "In parking lots, we have bumper stops for cars. This is basically the same thing."Township Chairman William Schwab, however, was not in favor of the agreement."I'll be very blunt, and I have felt this from day one, it's been 12 years and we keep trying to appease people," he said. "How many different variances are we going to give this guy? That's just my feeling."