RECENT COMMENTS
City to enforce ordinances concerning trashcans
City residents will need to pay strict attention to the times they put out their Supercan, as well as the time they remove it from the City right-of-way. Beginning March 11, in accordance with a City Ordinance, residents and property owners will be subject to monetary fines for leaving their Supercans out too long.
City Code Section 86-44 stipulates Supercans and recycling bins should not be placed out earlier than 4 p.m. on the day before collection and must be removed from the right-of-way by 7 a.m. the day after collection. The City right-of-way includes sidewalks, alleys and median strips between sidewalks and roadways.
“The right-of-way is part of a natural corridor contributing to the aesthetic quality and value of our neighborhoods. Removal of our refuse and recycling receptacles after service returns this area to its natural state, providing pedestrian, cycling and vehicular passage in our communities,” said James Jackson, Director of the Department of Public Works.
For the first violation of the ordinance, the property owner or utility account holder (if they are not the same person) will receive a violation notification sticker on their Supercan. The violator will also receive a letter notifying them of the infringement. Following notification, violators will be penalized $50 per day for each calendar day the can is not removed, starting the day following the last collection. For example, if trash is collected on Tuesday and the can is still out after 7 a.m. Wednesday, a sticker will be placed on it and a letter will be sent. If the resident is still non-compliant as of the date of the letter the fine will be retroactive back to the first day of the violation. For residents who place out more than one Supercan, a separate $50 per day fee will be imposed for each can. The fines will be added to the monthly utility statement.
Each residence can have up to four Supercans with the City providing one can free of charge.Residents who need additional cans may purchase them for $55 each by calling Customer Care at 3-1-1 or 646-7000. Each additional can incurs a $17.50 per month collection fee.
For more information on city services and schedules, please visit www.RichmondGov.com.
PRAISE THE LORD. Having moved here from other parts of the country, I’ve never seen so many unsightly trashcans left out year round. <- this is not sarcasm!
Should be interesting with so many renters in the area. Many of the students and young folks are just not going to follow this, and then the landlords are going to end up with fines, some long after the renters evacuate the premises.
When I rented as a student, we took care of our trash. When I rented as an adult, the landlord took care of this, or explained to us how to do it. It’s not unheard of. If they can work on the constant dog-barking next, then we might actually be able to call ourselves living in a civil society. Pan Handlers just mean you are in a “real city” – little rinky dink towns don’t have them.
I’m thrilled with this, as I have a long running battle with other people’s super cans. Peter #4, if the tenants are paying a water bill, then they are the ones who will be fined, not the landlords. Also, many of the newer larger apartments have dumpsters, not super cans. I think the only tenants with super cans are those who rent houses and in most cases they pay their own utilities.
djs #1, I agree. This ordinance has actually been on the books for five years.
How about homeowners you don’t put the trash cans in the proper places.
Yay!!!! It’s about time. Fine ’em and fine ’em big!
How about enforcing people with dogs that bark 24/7
eds #7, I’m assuming you mean ‘homeowners WHO don’t put the trash cans in the proper places.’ They would get both a sticker and a letter telling them they need to put the cans in the correct place. That’s what this is about. I actually found the ordinance online last week, it passed in 2007, and covers all of this.
djs #5, agree with you again re trash. Not sure about curing your dog bark problem, maybe you need to call animal control and see if the dog(s) are properly cared for.
Scott and djs, is there an ordinance about barking dogs? If there is, I’d contact Lt. Minton at First Precinct and ask about having it enforced. I think his email is on the latest crime report that came out, and he’s really good at responding.
Also my other comment is the same – call animal control. First make sure the dog is not in trouble though – there might be a reason the animal is barking, and you can report that to animal control. If the poor dog is being left out in all weather with no shelter, food or water, it gives you more to report.
Maybe the city can put Chris Brown on this problem. I hear that he’s got some community service hours left to do…
While I agree that unsightly garbage etc. is a nasty hazard that should be dealt with, I must say regarding penalties and violations… it depends. I say so because some folks around Church Hill have their supercans on the sidewalk in front of their house, neatly lined up. Yes, this is neat, sanitary and not an eyesore. This is due to the geography of where they live. Either, 1. there is no front ‘yard’ to pull the can into, or 2. no backyard or no way to get it to a convenient alley. And I don’t think these city residents should be fined or penalized for doing this.
I’m curious how this will be enforced, since cans are constantly being taken, moved, etc. In my case, my back yard connects to an alley along with 6+ other properties. We have maybe 5 cans which align the perimeter of the alley. It’s not a 1:1 can to property ratio, & the cans are not tied to certain prop’s. So if I bring my can back into my yard each week, but another leaves their’s out near my gate, will I be charged? Seems like it could get messy, no pun intended.
Once all those pesky super-cans and recycling bins are off the sidewalks, maybe the city could actually repair them. It’d be nice to be able to walk more than 3 feet without tripping over missing or upturned bricks!
#14 Bill: actually, your supercan IS tied to your address via the serial number on it. You can call them and verify the serial number, that’s what I did. They came out and identified which cans belonged to which addresses via serial numbers. It sounds to me like you have less cans then houses, so you might want to try to straighten that out by getting more cans assigned.
The fees included in the water bills include the trash cans, although as I recall it isn’t spelled out on the bill. So anyone paying a utility bill is also paying for a super can, whether they have one or not. As noted above, you can order extra cans for a fee.
@Brian Doetzer
People turn left into (or exiting McDonalds) on Broad Street drive me nuts! It completely fouls up traffic during the morning rush. I talked to the police that sits at Exxon and he suggested I complain to the city regarding the sign. He says the say is not posted at the required height (or something like that) and so it is not highly visible, therefore, no one notices it or obeys it.
Calling animal control on your neighbor’s pet is going to create a lot of friction. The only decent thing to do about a barking dog is bring it up with the neighbor. My neighbor’s dog also barks constantly, but I don’t think there is anything they can do to get him to stop, so I just live with it. If it were a crying baby, I would do the same.
Thanks, crd. You learn something new every day. Hopefully mine is out there so I can secure it.
My property backs up to a short alley with 3 other houses. Slowly but surely, all of our cans have disappeared, including mine. If I call for a new one, am I dinged for the other one walking off?
Hill Resident #20, you should not be dinged. I don’t have the appropriate section of the city rules in front of me right now but if memory serves me, they just replace it if it’s gone. You’re already paying for it through your water/sewer bill. I found a bunch of info on their website when I was trying to find the ordinance that they are finally going to enforce.
I’ve been dealing with a Mr. Blakey at the city; his cell phone is 366-6664 but I’d start with the numbers listed above (in the announcement about enforcement). Also, Lt. Minton at First Precinct was helpful for me; he put out a notice that he has an environmental officer who helps with issues about trash and such stuff. His email should be in the sector crime report that just came out.
Does the city trash truck come thru your alley to pick up? If there aren’t any cans, how are you getting rid of trash?
Thanks for the info, crd. There is one can left that I typically see in the alley (no service in the alley, just at the road’s edge of it) and so I put my trash in there.
I’m in agreement with 13. While I can see the purpose of this, our whole block has one can in front of each house because we don’t have access to alleys to keep them in. This is going to mean a bit of heavy trash can lifting for us, I think.