City Sues Man for Canceling Trash Service
January 31st, 2008Via: Examiner:
A man who claims to have reduced his waste to nearly nothing out of concern for the environment now faces a lawsuit from San Carlos for canceling his garbage-collection service.
Eddie House, 53, says he was shocked when he was served with a lawsuit Sunday at his Cedar Street home.
The lawsuit, filed by San Carlos Deputy City Attorney Linda Noeske in San Mateo Superior Court on Jan. 22, seeks a permanent injunction forcing House to maintain garbage service. City officials are also seeking to recoup from House the costs of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims House broke the city’s municipal code requiring all residential, commercial and industrial properties to contract with Allied Waste for pickup at least once a week — a standard requirement in most cities, San Carlos Deputy City Manager Brian Moura said.
House says he stopped his service with Allied Waste about a year ago after realizing that his garbage cans were nearly always empty.
“It’s just me and my dog, so I don’t have a whole lot of garbage to begin with and I recycle everything,” he said.
My father faces this issue with his suburban home that remains unsold after he has moved to the old folks home. He also has to maintain water and energy service. It sounds ridiculous until you realize that 99 out of 100 properties without these services quickly become community hazards. The law compensates for the fact that the community lacks the wherewithal to monitor properties that are off the grid. Take a drive through certain rural areas to see the creative ways people have of disposing of garbage when collection is not mandated.
Jah. Garbage service is required by law in (almost?) all of San Mateo county. It’s supposed to cut down on illegal dumping. They are Californians after all…
Now, I take recycles to Lane County (OR) solid waste recovery every three months or so, and three cans of garbage, mostly bones and non-recyclable plastic, every six months. Cost is $9 for up to three cans, $7.5 after recycle discount. That’s $15/year. Farewell forever to Cali :o)
Everything else gets composted, I’d guess 60-70% by weight.
Jack-Booted EULA
:o)
I used to live in Santa Clara county, which is next door to San Mateo. They have the same law. I called to cancel my garbage service once, and was told that it wasn’t allowed. I had to tell them I was moving out of the area before they would agree.
I wonder on what legal basis the county felt they were able to obligate their residents to pay for garbage pickups, in the form of their agreement with the servicing company. Seems like good fodder for a court case.