2018-188 Plan for Dumpsters Obstructing SidewalksDate: December 21, 2018 Report No. 2018-188
INFORMAL STAFF REPORT
TO MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
SUBJECT:
Provide an overview of the Solid Waste Department’s plans to address dumpsters located on
sidewalks.
BACKGROUND & DISCUSSION:
Council Members Armintor and Briggs recently contacted staff regarding compromised sidewalk
accessibility due to the placement of solid waste and recycling dumpsters. Solid Waste staff are
aware of approximately 31 dumpsters in the city that are obstructing some portion of a public
sidewalk. For several years, staff has attempted to address these issues by requesting property
owners to voluntarily move their dumpsters or change to an alternative form of solid waste
service such as cart collection. This effort has been met with mixed results, and staff was asked
to consider mandatory compliance.
Without considering other agreements and allowances that may be in place for specific locations,
Section 24-68 of the Code of Ordinances permits the director of Solid Waste to locate and place
containers in accordance with the waste storage needs of individual commercial, industrial and
institutional facilities. In order to address dumpsters blocking access to sidewalks, Solid Waste
staff intends to contact the customers associated with these dumpsters and request compliance.
Because collection frequency and property characteristics vary, Solid Waste staff will tailor the
solutions offered to each customer in order to meet their property’s unique needs. In the event a
customer does not wish to comply, staff intends to provide the customer with notice that they
have thirty (30) days to comply and implement one of the proposed solutions.
Unless directed otherwise, staff intends to initiate this process on January 2, 2019. Staff
anticipates the effort will take between 60 and 90 days to complete.
Please feel free to contact me if you have additional questions or concerns.
STAFF CONTACT(S):
Ethan Cox
Director of Solid Waste
(940) 349-7421
Ethan.Cox@cityofdenton.com