One man's trash is apparently another man's problem...or is it the city's?
Joe Chaput owns a popular cheese shop, Les Amis du Fromage, and pays just under $2,000 to keep the back-alley dumpster of the 843 East Hasting St location on city property. That arrangement is fine by him… until another business illegally dumps bio-waste (human feces included) by his bin.
Chaput took his frustration to Twitter on March 31 in a detailed thread, complete with security videos, photos and screenshots.
As per Chaput’s agreement with the City of Vancouver, he’s responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the area 1.5 meters under and around the bin. Anything outstanding is the city’s responsibility.
“We keep our bin clean, we keep it locked, we dump all our garbage in there, we spray paint all the graffiti off the bin regularly at our expense,” Chaput tells Vancouver Is Awesome by phone. “But nowhere in the agreement does it say that I'm responsible when people illegally dump [waste], whether it's needles or human feces.”
He reported the dumping to the city, which sent a notice to the garbage hauler, who then sent a letter back to Chaput stating that if he doesn’t clean up the waste he will be ticketed $250. Yet, the waste was cleaned up by the city crews in the middle of the night.
“There are parts of the city where crews come by daily and just clean up the street or the alley, and we’re not far from those areas,” Chaput says. “Perhaps we need a bit more love in our neighbourhood than we’re getting.”
Both the street and back alley see lots of foot traffic daily, from shoppers to dumpers. A busy commercial street like East Hastings has lots of businesses, and some, according to Chaput, don’t even have bins.
“I think [the city] should also be looking, when people have a business, if they have a waste bin; they should be asking, ‘Why don’t you have one?’” he says.
“It’s not fair to penalize small business owners for other people’s crimes,” he later adds in a private message on Twitter. “That includes illegal dumping and graffiti. That’s too easy. Instead offer more help in keeping our city clean.”
