Permit fee, rules on donation boxes approved

The owners of large donation bins that collect used clothing soon will have to pay $191 a year per container and keep them free of clutter under an ordinance unanimously approved by City Council on Wednesday.

Vice Mayor Pro Tem Martha Castex-Tatum spearheaded the ordinance after her office found repeated instances of the bins attracting heaps of debris, with furniture and other items strewn across sidewalks in her District K. More than half the bins in that district had been placed without the property owner’s permission, she said.

“Residents are quite frustrated (because), unfortunately, these donation boxes many times become havens for illegal dumping,” Castex-Tatum told her colleagues before the vote.

Companies that operate the often dumpster-sized bins now will have to get the owner’s OK, pay the fee for a permit and file a maintenance schedule with the city. The ordinance also forbids them from placing the bins in certain areas, such as non-paved surfaces or within 25 feet of a right-ofway, and requires owners to put their contact information on the container, among other rules.

“We don’t want these donation boxes to become a dumping ground for everything,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said. “These are measures that will clean up our city, make our city much more attractive in a substantive way.”

District A Councilmember Amy Peck said she was “very skeptical” about the $191 fee initially, but she was relieved to hear stakeholders were on board with the ordinance to rein in bad actors. Councilmember Greg Travis, who represents District G, said he opposes fees traditionally, as well, especially on charities.

“I hate having to penalize them, but I’ll tell you, this is a real problem,” Travis said.

Operators who talked to the Chronicle this week generally said they support the broader ordinance, though they are concerned the cost of the fee will force them to cut back on their business. One operator, American Textile Recycling Service, said the new fee would force her company to drop from 400 bins in Houston to about 100 or 150. The company operates bins for a local nonprofit called Houston Area Community Services.

Company spokeswoman Kristin Greene thanked the council and city staff “for their hard work in putting together an ordinance that will allow the continued support of local charities and the community at large.”

There will be a fourmonth grace period before the city begins enforcing the ordinance. One enforcement begins, violators will have a week to correct violations before facing a misdemeanor fine of between $100 and $500.

Several council members said they often receive complaints similar to Castex-Tatum’s office. District F Councilmember Tiffany Thomas hailed Castex-Tatum as the “queen of clean,” and she said she looks forward to no longer deploying her hot team to clean the donation boxes in her neighborhoods.