As a consultant to a number of neighborhood business associations throughout
the city, I am not aware of a single municipally-provided litter container
located on private property. The vast majority of city-provided litter
containers are located within the public right-of-way, on sidewalks and
boulevards.
Also, while I agree that residential customers should not be in the position
of having to "subsidize" litter maintenance that primarily benefits private
businesses, it is worth noting that businesses already pay a higher rate of
property taxes than do residential homeowners. In effect, businesses
currently "subsidize" municipal services that benefit residential customers,
as well as businesses. The funding solution in my mind is to shift litter
container maintenance to the general obligations budget. (I understand this
sums to approximately $380,000 annually, which is about .04% of the city's
current $1B total budget.)
On the issue of sidewalk litter in general, most businesses, in my
experience, maintain their immediate surroundings in a reasonable manner.
Unfortunately, as we all know, it takes but a single poorly maintained
property to "litter up" an entire commercial node. While I maintain that
litter container maintenance should be funded as a basic city service,
sidewalks and boulevards should not perform as linear waste receptacles for
problem businesses. The Inspections Department should develop an efficient
and expedited means for processing site-specific complaints and levying any
needed fines (perhaps a simple form on the city's website where the public
can notify city staff of a problem address).
On a historical note, when I first learned of the litter container policy
change some time ago, I predicted on this list that we might one day all
wake up to a New York Times front-page, above-the-fold headline
"Trashopolis" describing our fair city. With the "eyes of the nation"
watching the Final Four this weekend, one might fear waking up next Tuesday
given the current layer of glacial grime covering our streets and sidewalks.
Here's hoping the Gray Lady's coverage doesn't stray past the box scores.
Michael McLaughlin
Cedar-Isles-Dean
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