Vail Can Bar Commercial Trucks From Its Pedestrian Mall Areas

Vail, Colo., convinced a divided Tenth Circuit panel Friday that a lower court abused its discretion by temporarily blocking aspects of an ordinance banning most commercial trucks from a pedestrian mall.

A district court wrongly concluded that the Colorado Motor Carriers Association was likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that Vail’s amended ordinance is preempted by federal law, Judge Robert E. Bacharach said. The amendment—eliminating previous exceptions for high-volume commercial carriers—fits squarely within exceptions in federal laws regulating intrastate transportation and the Airline Deregulation Act, Bacharach said, voiding a preliminary injunction.

The amended ordinance’s genuine connection ...