City Considering Fines for Garbage Violations
Kent council will vote on issue tonight
Photos
Property owners who fail to get rid of garbage could soon face a fine for violating Kent's solid waste ordinance.
Tonight Kent City Council is expected to vote to formally direct city administrative staff to develop a draft ordinance that would include fines for property owners who fail to dispose of garbage and other solid waste from their land.
From there, city administrators will draft the ordinance and come back to council in the coming months with recommendations for action.
Kent Health Commissioner Jeff Niestadt said he recommended adding fines to the existing solid waste ordinance (section 521.08 of the General Offenses code) to give it some teeth and help keep the city's tree lawns from collecting garbage for days at a time.
"Whether it’s beds or couches, we see a lot this time of year," Niestadt said. "Basically what I’d love to do is add monetary penalties to that section of the code for solid waste offenders."
Niestadt said the existing process for the city to act on a solid waste complaint can prove laborious and expensive for city personnel.
If a solid waste complaint is made, city health staff verify the violation and issue a 48-hour notice to the property owner to remove the garbage. That notice is sent via certified mail and costs the city $4.68 each time a notice is mailed. If the property owner fails to remove the trash, then either the city removes it or contracts with a waste disposal firm, who then bills the city for the removal.
If a property owner does not reimburse the city for the removal cost, then that cost is typically tacked on to their annual property tax bill by Portage County.
Niestadt said there are a lot of repeat offenders who will let the city clean-up trash from their property and then pay the bill later.
"They do take up a lot of our time," he said.
Niestadt said in one day earlier this month he wrote 14 solid waste violations spread out on University Drive, Sherman and Linden streets. The city has spent $645 in certified mail costs on solid waste violations alone this year.
Kent City Councilman John Kuhar said the city should keep in mind that in some cases a landlord or property owner may not know if a tenant puts garbage out several days before the scheduled pick-up.
"I think maybe somewhere in there you ought to notify both the tenant and the owner. Start making them a little bit accountable," Kuhar said. "The continued offenders I think (are) most definitely a problem in town. We need to look at this."
Councilwoman Heidi Shaffer said she would like to see the fines also apply to bottles, cups and cans that can litter a yard after a party.
"I think we need to make sure once we give adequate notice the first time we need to have the problem dealt with,” she said.
Mars
8:59 am on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Great idea. Kent is always a garbage dump when the rentals switch over.
Will the city actually enfore the new rules? Or will they approach the new rules like they do most other things related to the students? There are a number of single family homes being rented out to college students that the city is aware of breaking the rules, but doesn't do anything about it. When an entire neighborhood complains multiple times and has to call the police to quiet the drunken kids, and the city still doesn't take action, it make one wonder what's up. No point in making a bunch of rules if no one enforces them.
Chris (Kit) Myers
2:18 pm on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
The landlord does not put the trash there. IT BELONGS TO THE TENANTS! GO AFTER THEM! If there is trash there over the time limit, a city official can just go knock on the door with a citation, or cheaper yet, for licensed rentals anyway, just PICK UP THE PHONE and call the landlord and tell him there's trash out there. The city knows the owner of every licensed rental. JUST PICK UP THE PHONE! It's kinda crazy for the city to spend $465.00 in fewer than eight months for certified mail for trash. Excuse me... solid waste!
Regarding licensing rentals with three or more unrelated persons. What a joke! Lots of people have reported various houses. I reported two of them for YEARS and nothing happened. I don't know why I bother to license mine. Not that I would ever do it, but all I would need to do is have my tenants say that only two people live there or that everyone there is related.
Another joke is the sidewalk snow ordinance. Another is sidewalk condition ordinance. Walk down the South DePeyster Street (Heidi Shaffer's Street) on the east side. Walk down South Water. Another is the barking dog ordinance.
What is the penalty for someone who lets their dog defecate in your front yard a couple times a week? What am I allowed to do if I see it happening? Maybe Heidi would like to fine me if she finds some in the yard of my rental.
Ah, well...
mumble, mumble...
Ah, well...
Mars
3:30 pm on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Precisely! The city needs to enfore the laws it already has before tacking on some more.
KM
7:41 pm on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Maybe if we had a reliable garbage company that picked up your garbage the day it is supposed to a lot of this might not be an issue. Ever since the city switched to one company I have had nothing but issues. I am supposed to get my garbage picked up on Monday, we put it out Sunday after dinner about 8pm....can I tell you I have to call about TWICE A MONTH because they have forgotten to pick up my garbage, and I always get asked the same question : "When did you put it out?" They have 1 driver who is done at 2pm....I get home from work at 6pm.....it's still there on the curb, same answer, will get it tomorrow. I have had 4 credits this year from the company!!! Maybe the city should go back to pick your own company. The garbage gets picked up, the tenant/landlord gets the BIG BILL, problem solved!!
Chris (Kit) Myers
8:08 pm on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
KM, you are absolutely correct. Sometimes my trash (solid waste!) sits in front of my rental for two days. I, too, always get the "when did you put it out" question. I never got that with my old service. And, if I had a bunch of stuff on a not regularly scheduled day, they would come get it with, of course, a fee for so doing. Now I fear for the city garbage gestapo to come get me and I have to hide the stuff. Some of us knew that this sort of thing would happen when the city got involved in the trash (solid waste!) business.
I await the coming of the bottle cap nazis, and I'm sure that Ms. Shaffer, Mr. Niestadt, and their ilk, will someday get to that.
Colleen Thorndike
9:20 am on Thursday, August 16, 2012
I wonder if an easier solution might be to have scheduled trash pick-ups once a month or so for items that don't fit in garbage bins (like couches and mattresses)--or just at the end of every semester, since that's when it seems to be the biggest problem. Or, we could go European and have a scheduled junking day, where everyone who has household items they want to get rid of puts them out on the curb and everyone drives around and takes their pick of what's outside (I know this already happens to some extent). It would solve the problem without adding new laws.
I.M. Wright
9:45 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
It's not uncommon for a city to have ordinances on the books regarding the earliest trash can be put out on the tree lawn, in addition to the latest that trash cans should be brought in.