Sharon Coolidge

scoolidge@enquirer.com

Have a large family? Steep stairs to the front door? Illegal dumping in the neighborhood?

Rejoice.

An unpopular one-garbage-can-per-house policy in the city of Cincinnati may be repealed if interim Public Services Director Gerald Checco gets his way.

Cincinnati City Council adopted the policy last year to increase recycling and save money by cutting back on workers' compensation claims by garbage collectors hurt when tossing heavy loads into trucks.

Those goals were accomplished, but other problems were created. Simply put: It just isn't working.

The cans aren't big enough to hold the trash created by large families and too large to navigate in parts of the city where the streets are narrow or where homes sit on hillsides.

In fact, although the policy was announced, it's never been enforced.

"We realized there was no way we were able to start the new policy," said Checco, who took the job earlier this spring and was not part of creating the policy.

Checco is set to make his case Monday at City Council's Neighborhoods committee meeting.

"This thing was a disaster from day one in terms of garbage remaining on the street and worsened the illegal dumping," said Pete Witte, a lifelong resident of West Price Hill and former president of the neighborhood's civic association. "It was not a sensible approach. I don't think they understood the unintended consequences."

It was clear from the start the program wasn't working in some parts of Cincinnati.

The problems?

• Topography: Many homes in Cincinnati have steep steps leading to the curb, making it nearly impossible to maneuver a large trash container.

• Safety: In some historic neighborhoods there is no space to store the large trash containers and a recycling container, resulting in people leaving the garbage carts on the sidewalk. That's unsightly – and illegal, because Cincinnati has a law against blocking the right-of-way.

• Cost: The department made the 65-gallon cart the standard given to everyone. But many people quickly requested larger 95-gallon carts, meaning the city has a surplus of 10,000 standard carts and of smaller 35-gallon carts, which nobody wanted. Once the policy is enacted, the department expects even more requests for larger carts.

• Demographics: The one-cart policy cannot accommodate households with lots of people.

• Missed collections: When people forget to put out their trash or have a large party, the backlog of a trash cannot be absorbed in one cart the following week.

There have been unintended consequences, too, Checco said.

• Illegal dumping has increased and spread, especially in poor neighborhoods. With a limit on what can be put out, some people discard trash in vacant lots. That brings health risks.

• Citizens' requests for special trash pickup has increased 350 percent, from about 9,500 requests a year to more than 33,000 this year.

• The department is not staffed to handle the mess, meaning workers are diverted from green space maintenance.

• Public garbage cans meant for pedestrian use – napkins and food wrappers – are being used for dumping. That sometimes means repeated collections in a day – and they're becoming magnets for rodents.

Cincinnati City Councilman David Mann, chairman of council's Neighborhoods Committee, said there have been so many complaints it's time to take another look at the policy.

Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld said constituents have told him there is room for improvement.

"We need a policy that accelerates sustainability but is customer friendly," he said. "I don't think we're doing the latter as well as we should."

The issue dates to 2011, when city administrators suggested charging $20 a month for garbage pickup as a way to help cover a shortfall in the city budget. Citizens rebelled and passed a charter amendment that prevented the city from imposing trash fees.

Officials started looking at other ways to save money. In April 2013, council passed the one-can policy, which cost taxpayers $4.7 million.

The plan was estimated to save $2.5 million a year.

About 90,000 Cincinnati households got a 65-gallon trash cart, then promoted as the first step in moving the whole city to a semi-automated trash-collection system.

The public works department promised council the switch would save money on landfill fees and workers' compensation costs. Under the plan, garbage collectors would no longer lift the garbage into trucks, instead rolling the carts to the truck, which has hydraulic arms that flip the carts up and dump the trash into the truck.

Then Public Services Director Michael Robinson said research showed other cities that allowed only one cart found success with the 65-gallon cart, which holds about five trash bags. ⬛

What the new policy could look like

• Allow more than one cart for households that recycle; use smaller carts due to stairs.

• Allow people who can't use carts to set out trash bags if approval is granted.

• Double the resources devoted to bulk collection. Partner with social service agencies to pick any valuable items or building material that could be re-used.

• Bi-weekly collection of yard waste.

• Intensified enforcement of laws and increase fines for illegal dumping.

in need of a bulk item pickup?

Call Public Works at 513-591-6000.

Weigh in

• Attend Cincinnati City Council's Neighborhoods Committee at 2 p.m. Monday, Cincinnati City Hall, 801 Plum St., Downtown.