West of the Boulevard News

News from the Carytown and Museum District areas

City to fine residents for leaving trash cans at curb

Posted on | November 19, 2007 | 4 Comments

trashcan2.JPG

Richmond is in a leadership crisis. The mayor is fighting with (and evicting) everyone. The school board is in shambles. So what does City Council do? They are set to pass a law to fine residents $50 per day for leaving their trash cans out.

Under the terms of the bill, leaving your cans out past 7am the day after pickup will result in a $50 fine per day. The fines will be collected as part of the monthly utility bill. That makes me wonder whether the city will suspend utility service if the fines are not paid.

1st District rep Bruce Tyler introduced the bill, stating that part of the reason for considering this bill was that police officers have been “running around chasing trashcans.” Clearly I agree with the councilman that police should not be handling the problem, but this law is not the answer.

All I can do is throw my hands up in the air and say enough! What is wrong with this city? Why are we wasting our time with passing laws about trash cans? I can think of 50 things City Council should be tackling ahead of trash cans.

Did you know that you can complain about “supercans” being left at the curb on the city website? I bet Bruce Tyler doesn’t. Why doesn’t the Department of Public Works confiscate abandoned cans and let residents pony up $55 for a new supercan as per already established Department of Public Works regulations. There are already rules in place to handle this. More laws and more fines are not the answer.

Source: Richmond.com

Read the ordinance here 

Category: News, RVANews-News, RVANews-Politics

Comments

4 Responses to “City to fine residents for leaving trash cans at curb”

  1. Ross
    November 19th, 2007 @ 11:02 am

    What about me chasing my own cans down? Half the time my can is scattered about the neighbors back yard.

    Ugh so annoying.

  2. Ross
    November 19th, 2007 @ 11:23 am

    Did you know we had a new Director of Public Works?

    “The Department of Public Works is one of the largest and most complex City departments. The Department serves as the City’s design and construction arm, and provides trash; bulk trash and brush pick up services.”

    From a recent City press release:

    As part of its efforts to transform the Department and improve overall service delivery and customer service, the Administration recently initiated an organizational realignment of the various divisions within the Department, and has launched a national search for a new Department Director, as well as a Deputy Director to head up the Department’s General Services Division. Until such time as a permanent Director is recruited, Rosemary Green is being assigned to serve as the Interim Director of the Department, effective November 24th.

  3. Gary
    November 20th, 2007 @ 12:33 pm

    The biggest culprits I have noticed are the multi-family residences. This probably won’t be acted on anyway!

  4. Bill Hark
    November 30th, 2007 @ 1:53 am

    This is a really stupid enforcement of an old law. Many Fan residents don’t have a place to put the cans due to retaining walls and fences. There is nothing wrong with a trashcan neatly against a wall in an alley. Imagine coming home from a week vacation and finding a $350 dollar fine added to ones city utility bill. I encourage people to call the City Council. media etc and complain about this stupid law.

Leave a Reply