Unsightly Donation Bins On The Way Out

District 2 commissioner Mike Moore is hoping the sight of mattresses and couches stacked against overflowing donation bins will soon fade from the view of residents throughout Pasco County, now that his fellow county commissioners have voted to introduce an ordinance to more closely regulate these sometimes-eyesores.

A public hearing was held on the proposed ordinance Oct. 11 in Dade City and received no opposition, with another scheduled for Oct. 25 in New Port Richey. Moore said he did not expect any public opposition to his proposal, which has been endorsed by the other commissioners.

“I’ve talked to many constituents about it, and they say, ‘It’s great to hear you talk about it, now let’s do something about it,’’’ Moore said. “And we are.”

Moore, whose district represents much of Wesley Chapel, including the Wiregrass Ranch area, said he has had enough of driving past unsightly stacks of garbage masquerading as donations to the needy. Among the offending bins he cites most are one on a private service road off S.R. 54 by the Super Wal-Mart that was visible to passers-by and attracted dumpings, and another on Ancient Oaks Blvd. by the Sam’s Club on S.R. 56.

Those are just two of the sites Comm. Moore has noticed in Wesley Chapel. “There are multiple ones across the county too,’’ he says, adding that if he had to put a number on the donation bins in the county — and he admits that not all of them have become dumping spots — he would estimate there are more than 200, although an exact number is hard to tell.

The owners of those bins, however, will now have to obtain county permits and be held responsible for ensuring that the areas where they place their bins remain junk- and vandalism-free — if and when the ordinance is enacted into law.

According to the proposed ordinance, in some cases, the bins are placed on private and public property without approval from the landowners.

The county currently has no standards or permitting procedures for site location, number of bins, signage, maintenance, or security of donation bins, but Moore says the ordinance would change that.

Some Provisions…

Anyone placing a bin within the county first has to prove it is authorized to conduct business in the state and county. They also must produce a site plan showing the location of the proposed donation bin and have written consent from the property owner to set up the bin.

Moore says the bin he cited near the Sam’s Club, which has now been removed, had no markings on it indicating who owned it or what it was even for. It attracted people looking to get rid of tattered mattresses, kitchen appliances, rugs and other items just dropped off in its vicinity.

The owners of the property, Moore says, had to pay to the have area cleaned up. “He told me it was about the seventh time he had to do that,” Moore says.

The removal and regulation of donation bins isn’t a new problem. Some cities in California and Michigan have banned the bins or have begun stricter regulation of them in recent years.

While many bins are marked as non-profit, not every bin is for charity and many have no markings of any kind on them. Moore says it is hard to tell them apart, as many for-profit businesses have collection bins, and sell the contents to recycling companies, which then ship them overseas. The clothes and other items are then re-purposed as rags or furniture padding and sold.

Without regulations, however, Moore says for- and not-for-profit businesses can put bins wherever they like, and not even bother to keep the area clean. In many cases, Moore says, it appears they bins aren’t even emptied in any sort of timely manner.

On S.R. 54 just east of Advance Auto Parts and across the road from Parks Ford of Wesley Chapel, Moore drove by an unmarked bin collecting junk almost every day until something had to be done.

“We actually went out there and did it ourselves, it got so bad,’’ Moore says. “We used county staff, though, and that’s paid for by taxpayer money.”

Moore said the problem was finally solved with the county removed the bin and placed a sign banning the dumping of anything in that area.