Mt. Lebanon may charge renters for weekly garbage collection
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Residents and property owners in Mt. Lebanon will get another opportunity to express their feelings about a controversial proposal that would require some renters and condominium owners to pay for their own garbage service.
Commissioners on Monday agreed to hold a second public hearing on an amended solid waste ordinance next month after landlords of multi-unit buildings said they were caught by surprise and lobbied for more timeto raise objections.
Currently, all residents in Mt. Lebanon are entitled to garbage service, which is paid for through local taxes.
The proposal would eliminate garbage service to those living in commercial buildings, which would be classified as four or more dwelling units.
Residents living in buildings with three or fewer units would be considered residentialand wouldn’t be affected.
If approved, the ordinance would impact about 1,000 units, including those in apartment buildings and condominiums. There are about 128such structures in Mt. Lebanon, said assistant manager IanMcMeans.
Townhouseswill be considered single family homes and won’t be impacted by the ordinance,he said.
Mr. McMeans said the separation between commercial and residential already exists in most other municipalities, including Dormont, Upper St. Clair, Bethel Park and South Park.
In it’s current contract with Republic, garbage service is provided to 12,500 households in Mt. Lebanon at an annual rate of about $127 each.
The discrepancy between residential and commercial was discovered during ongoing negotiations for a new garbagecontract.
Commission President Dave Brumfield said an internal audit recommended that a distinction between commercial and residential should be made before the start of the next contract, expected in January 2019.
That’s also when the proposed ordinance would take effect, giving residents more than a year to search for other arrangements.
Mr. McMeans said the municipality is trying to write a clause into its next garbage contract that would allow commercial property owners to pay the same amount as the municipality, though they would have separate contracts.
Township officials raised the proposal earlier this year and had two public meetings in July to discuss it with impacted property owners and renters. But some landlords said they were taken aback when they learned about the public hearing on Monday.
“We deserve more courtesy; we are the most impacted,” said Jim Eichenlaub, executive director of the Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh and the Apartment Association of MetropolitanPittsburgh.
Mr. Eichenlaub, who represents 200 property owners, said condominium owners shouldn’t be expected to subsidize garbage service for others because “they are paying property and wage tax.”
“It’s unfair that the municipality has decided to kick them out of the municipal system,” said Mr. Eichenlaub.
Because commercial property owners will be forced to provide their own arrangements, garbage trucks, dumpsters and trash cans could litter the streets on a daily basis, hesaid.
“You will have trash cans out on the street every single day,” he said.
Mr. Brumfield said they will hold another public hearing during the next commissioners meeting, at 8 p.m. on Nov. 14. The measure could be votedon at that time.