If I ever catch the person who…
This picture was taken at the corner of Foundry and Boston streets. As you can see someone dumped all of their garbage and junk on a city street. I think that parcel is owned by the City but I am not sure. Anyway, that is how I read the GIS map on the city website.
For a long time there was a drop-off box for used clothing. One of those large, yellow metal containers. The operative word here is clothes. But every month, when it was moving time, landlords and tenants would use this spot as their personal garbage dumpster.
I thought that now that the container had been removed, the corner would be free of this visual pollution. But I was wrong, as you can see. How long have the abutting residents, who put so much time and effort to keep their properties clean, have to put up with this garbage, (literally and figuratively)?
The cowardly deed is done a night making it almost impossible for the criminals to be caught. Maybe the City can put a camera up there and finally catch one of those criminals. It not only effects the neighborhoods quality of life but the impact of indiscriminate dumping of garbage is a form of the broken window theory; maintaining a clean environment is essential to safe and healthy community.
Meanwhile, I will be on the lookout and if I ever catch one of those guys, watch out!
UPDATE: The garbage has been removed. Thank-you Ms. Kendra Amaral, of the City’s
Development Services Division, and DPW. I am still on the look out for that criminal who is polluting our City.
June 20th, 2011 at 8:38 am
OMG!!!!
June 20th, 2011 at 10:22 am
Mimi,
This is definitely a problem which impacts neighbors and the City. Illegal dumping has a cost to all in terms of safety, health, environment, and financial (for clean up). It is for these reasons we have recently launched an enhanced illegal dumping enforcement program, that will include follow-up steps, fines and where possible criminal charges.
For this particular incident, I am sending out an inspector to the site today. She will photograph the violation. If anything that identifies the person who did the dumping can be found, she will take evidence of that as well. We will then have DPW come by and clean up the waste.
We will issue citations to the property owner (once we confirm it’s privately owned property) and if we find identifying material we will also issue fines and potentially pursue criminal charges against the offender who committed the dumping. Fines can reach up to $350 and criminal charges carry a much higher penalty.
If the area continues to be a challenge and we cannot identify the offenders, we will look at installing cameras to add to the enforcement effort.
I believe with this aggressive approach to enforcement we will ultimately reduce the incidents of illegal dumping. It will take some time, but our goal is to ensure the message is out that Lowell does not tolerate illegal dumping.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Kendra Amaral
Development Services Division
June 20th, 2011 at 11:16 am
The recent policy change to go after garbage bin abusers by not picking up their trash may add to this problem. Although there may be issues with trying to collect fines, it would be better to enforce with penalties rather than leave the trash behind.
June 20th, 2011 at 11:55 am
I am concerned about one aspect of Ms. Amaral’s plan of action. She indicates that citations will be issued against the owner of the real estate. Unless said owner dumped the trash there, they are a victim here. They should not be penalized for the illegal actions of another.
June 20th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
My comment is to Publius. The owner of the property is notified and required to clean up the debris in a timely fashion. If the owner is an out of town absentee owner and fails to clean the trash then Kendra double the fine.
June 20th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
If someone dumped on my land, I would file a police report. It seems like a empty lot, so owners may not check on it. Do the neighbors have a contact number if not publicly own?
June 20th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Publius,
This is a valid concern and one that has been discussed a great deal in our office.
Under the law, what happens on private property is the responsibility of that property owner regardless of whether that person/entity caused the violation. It may seem too broad in any one case; however, in aggregate this becomes important for consistent and effective enforcement. It is particularly crucial for us when violations occur at vacant lots, non-owner occupied residential buildings, and bank owned foreclosure property.
We try to use discretion in our enforcement, giving the property owners a chance to address before penalties are issued. In this particular case, we did find identifying material, and the Police Department is working with us to pursue the offenders. However, if the problem persists at this location (as indicated by Mimi), we need a mechanism to engage the property owner in becoming more active in establishing a solution rather than allowing it to persist at a cost to the City and its residents. This is why the property owner, for better or worse, is ultimately the responsible party for managing the activity on their own property.
I hope this is helpful. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any additional questions or thoughts. I can be reached at kamaral@lowellma.gov.
Thanks
Kendra
June 20th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
This is only one of the problems associated with the Soviet-style trash pickup in a city like Lowell. If these dumpers can’t find the money to have it legally carted away, what makes you think they can find the money to pay the fines? Some tenants won’t care if their landlord gets fined. Some people won’t even care if their trash doesn’t get picked up. The city MUST pick it up or else be responsible for creating a health hazard. Put a lien on the owners’ property for a lousy hundred dollar fine? I don’t think so. You need a degree from MIT to figure out how to throw away an old shovel. Some can’t afford the hauling fees and leave it out for the Dumpster Divers/Divas.
June 20th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
Publius is correct . I find it very disturbing that the city will go after a property owner for dumping that they are NOT responsible for. If this is weekly occurance that person could end up paying a small fortune to have the junk hauled away. We used to have people dump garbage bags next to our can until a neighbor who works weird hours caught the guy in action one night. No one saw a thing until then. So hopefully this piece of property is owned by the city. ( Wonder if they can fine themselves?)
June 20th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
In the US we have rights AND responsibilities. Tough nooggies.
And the landlords with “bad” tenants? I have no sympathy. What? The Section 8 checks are supposed be easy, breezy, beautiful?
Cry me a river.
June 21st, 2011 at 7:15 am
Ah, but while there appear to be no consequences for the dumping, there can be quite a bit of consequences you could set up for not paying a fine.
Landlord that have fine problems associated with tenants? Welcome to the landlord business bub. Tenants are revenue sources not only to capture the cost of the property, but also to capture the costs of doing business and, if your landlord performance is up to the challenge, a profit.
June 21st, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Point is… you can’t legislate civic pride. This one-size-fits-all approach to garbage doesn’t work in a city of 100k plus. Look around. Go out on a windy day and watch the recycling blow past you down the street. Look at the dead ends and wooded areas. You don’t find too many large screen TV’s, you find loads of newspaper, cardboard cartons etc. Legally and correctly put into bins. Where once we had (1) garbage truck polluting the air, we now have (2), plus a pickup with a supervisor in it. Say what you will, but when the city workers picked up trash, plowed streets and took care of the parks our city looked a heck of a lot better.
June 21st, 2011 at 5:09 pm
Yes, consequences. I submit that landlords with outstanding fines become ineligible for Section 8 funding. Isn’t a Section 8 Certificate issued annually, based on an inspection of premises? How about they check down City Hall before signing off?
June 22nd, 2011 at 10:52 am
I actually had someone dump an old TV next to my trash earlier this year. I called the DPW and they came and removed it the next day without giving me a hard time.
In my neighborhood the worst violators by far are the LHA housing tenants. Their trash containers are out there every day of the week next to piles of other trash. It is disgusting.
June 22nd, 2011 at 11:00 am
Today’s Sun has a follow-up story here: http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_18328758
June 22nd, 2011 at 12:52 pm
The Sun had a pic of the same junk Mimi took a pic of. You might think they might mention that a “local blogger pointed this out” somehow, since I DOUBT they simultaneously decided to go out and take a pic and do a story at the same time Mimi did, but instead BECAUSE Mimi did, and it made a good followup story for them. I’m not looking for much, but when they are tipped off by a PUBLIC source like this, who did some work on it themselves, you’d think they’d mention it. We certainly mention if we’re tipped off by a Sun article.
But hey, maybe we need another blogger ethics panel, eh?
I do NOT agree with Caulfield to ban clothing drop bins in the city. Come up with a creative solution, willya, instead of HEY YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN?
June 22nd, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Turnabout may be fair play, not that I approve however. The Boston Globe has used the Sun’s Police blog two days in a row for stories they ran on boston.com!
June 23rd, 2011 at 4:26 am
I did find funny, the ‘taxpayers are being nickeled and dimed’ complaint on the Lowell article. Don’t want to pay a fee? Don’t make so much trash. The conservative view point is suppose to be about personal responsibility. Why should I, a taxpayer pay for someone else’s waste?
June 23rd, 2011 at 7:18 pm
If these dumpers can’t find the money to have it legally carted away, what makes you think they can find the money to pay the fines?
The cost of disposal is trifling. This is just laziness and cheapness.
Some tenants won’t care if their landlord gets fined.
Tenants. Right. No way it’s the sainted rental property owner who’s responsible here. Must be the tenants.
June 23rd, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Look around.
I look around on trash day and I see a neat line of bins marching down the street. Even the guy on the corner who used to heap a mound of garbage on his sidewalk every week now has a neat bin, lined up with the rest. Looks great.
Where once we had (1) garbage truck polluting the air, we now have (2)
Huh? There were separate trash and recycling trucks long before the trash bins. But, yes, since the advent of recycling, we now have two garbage trucks that take half a long to get full, and thus make half the number of trips, instead of one garbage truck that filled up twice as fast and made twice the number of trips. It’s the same number of trips either way, so it’s the same amount of air pollution.
July 30th, 2011 at 10:11 am
I have a question. If a landlord brings his trash from his home (that’s in another town) to put in front of his tenents house in the city on THEIR trash pick-up day, is it illegal?
July 30th, 2011 at 10:31 am
I don’t know the answer, but I’ll guess:
1) Each houshold is afforded a specific volume of trash, based on household size. At this point, I think there are two bin sizes. If a landlord puts their trash in a bin, I would say it is frowned upon, maybe illegal, but doubt anything would come of it.
2)If a landlord was using the purple bags, expect the same result.
3)If a landlord is paying for their own trash removal for that unit, then I bet the city has little to say in the matter.
If a landlord is piling trash on top of or around bins, expect the city to take note and ley fines, ect. It is unlikely that the city would setup up surveillance to catch a landlord bringing trash from a vehicle to the curbside.
July 30th, 2011 at 2:41 pm
ty but more specifically. the landlord lives in a town that charges $12 per trash bag so instead of paying his town, he brings his trash to the CITY where he owns a house with 4 apartments he rents and puts the trash on THEIR sidewalk on THEIR TRASH DAY!