01-05-2025
Reading reduces permit fee for trash receptacles and recycling containers
Reading property and business owners will pay less to store trash receptacles and recycling containers in the public right-of-way.
City Council at its regular meeting Monday approved an amendment to the city code that will reduce the annual permit fee for trash receptacles and recycling containers stored within the right-of-way to $75 from $150.
At council's committee of the whole meeting last week, Steve Harrity, clean city coordinator, said it was unfair to charge a $150 fee for a 96-gallon trash tote that is half, or less than half, the size of a dumpster.
Permanent dumpster permits will remain at $150.
Permits for temporary dumpsters also remain unchanged at $5 per day.
Council also approved a code amendment Monday that adds compliance requirements and penalties for the screening of permitted dumpsters, carts, totes and receptacles visible from the public right-of-way and clarifies penalties for noncompliance.
Harrity last week in a report to council said the city has had difficulty achieving compliance with the ordinance enacted in 2005 to address dumpster issues.
All permanent dumpsters are required to be permitted, logged and monitored, he noted, and those in or visible from the right-of-way must be screened from view.
Harrity said his staff identified 163 noncompliant sites last year and sent warning letters in English and Spanish with little success.
He and his staff have begun making site visits and distributing educational material in English and Spanish to achieve greater compliance, he said.
'Currently, we're out in the field talking to folks, and that seems to be the best way to do it,' Harrity said. 'I've got a pretty good response within the past several months.'
The site visits, he said, resulted in the permitting of 18 formerly noncompliant containers, the relocation of 15 and the screening of seven.
'We are starting to make good and steady progress,' he said.
Harrity said the city offers screening reimbursement up to 50% of the construction costs with a maximum of $750.
The Public Works Department set aside $100,000 specifically for reimbursement costs, he noted.
He also said the city has a list of six local vendors who can construct the screens.
Those who received notifications have until Oct. 1 to comply or they will face fines for violations, he said.
Councilman O. Christopher Miller suggested color guidelines be adopted for the screens.
Neutral colors would make the enclosures less noticeable, he said, while bright colors draw attention to them.
'The whole purpose of enclosing the dumpsters and the trash containers is to make them go away from the public view,' Miller said. 'So the enclosure should do the same thing. It should disappear.'
Approval of the structure's design is required, but color is not specified in the ordinance, Harrity said. Council could amend the ordinance to require approval of colors, he noted.
