Reading business and property owners that have dumpsters or totes in the public right-of-way will be required to build a fence to hide the trash receptacles from the public’s view.

City Council voted 7-0 Monday night to update the dumpster ordinance. All property owners with permanent or temporary dumpsters or totes that are on a public sidewalk, street or in the public view are required to have fencing installed and empty the dumpers and totes at least once a week. Property owners must apply for a permit to have a dumpster or tote.

“Anybody that has spent time in the city or driving around the city knows this is an issue,” said Solid Waste/Recycling Division Manager Steve Harrity. “It’s unsightly, they can attract rodents and vandals and it creates some danger for pedestrians.”

The dumpsters and totes must be fenced in. The fence must be constructed of vinyl, painted wood, cedar or another material except for chain link fencing for permanent dumpsters and totes.

Chain link fencing may be used to enclose temporary dumpsters.

Mayor Eddie Moran’s administration knows it may be a burden for property owners to install fencing, so the city will pay 50% of the cost to install the fence up to $750.

“The administration didn’t want to create an unfunded mandate,” said Frank Denbowski, chief of staff.

The dumpsters must be serviced weekly to minimize overflow, Harrity said.

“One of the things that I was kind of surprised by is when they do overflow, rather than have the hauler come a second time that week, they’ll just charge the people for the stuff on the ground,” Harrity said. “And that’s not something we want.”

Property owners who fail to do what is required by the ordinance could face fines from $100 up to $1,000.

Council members voiced their support for the ordinance.

“That’s going to be particularly important downtown,” said Councilwoman Donna Reed. “That’s where the most egregious dumpsters are. There’s some really smelly, awful things there.”

Council Vice President Lucine Sihelnik was concerned that the city will require business owners to pay for a permit to have a dumpster and for a zoning permit to install a fence to hide the dumpster.

“I would ask that we think about that a little more,” she said. “I think that’s something we should flesh out a little more, ask them to put the (zoning) permit in but maybe not a high cost of the permit or zero-cost permit consideration be made. Because it’s one more step they have to take. When you have to do 10 things to get one thing it makes people want to be less compliant.”

Councilman Stratton Marmarou loved the idea but said one thing needs to happen if it’s going to be successful.

“All the recommendations I heard are terrific,” he said. “But like everything else. If we are not going to enforce these regulations, they will not work.”

The goal is now to actively enforce and monitor, with consistency, dumpsters in the city, Harrity said.

One of the problems is the city has had a dumpster ordinance on the books since 2005 and amended in 2007, but nothing was ever done to enforce it.

“It’s an issue we’ve had for years on end now and have been kicking it down the road,”  Harrity said. “For whatever reason, over the years this hasn’t been getting done. They haven’t been getting permitted.

The city will first begin identifying dumpsters and totes throughout the city that need to come within compliance.

“The first order of business is to find out where they are all at because we don’t know,” Harrity said.

A letter will then be sent to owners to inform them about the required permits and fencing, Harrity said.

“The end result will be a cleaner city, which we all want,” Harrity said.

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