Harsher penalties in store for people caught littering in Gadsden
Gadsden City Council members approved an amendment to the city's code which upped the fines for those caught littering.
The amendment came after Mayor Craig Ford shed light on large litter piles in the city.
For the first offense, there's a fine of up to $500 and a minimum of eight hours of community service collecting litter. The second offense committed within 12 months of the first has a penalty of up to $1,000 and at least 16 hours of community service. A third offense within 12 months of the prior offense results in another $1,000 fine and a minimum of three days in jail.
Before the change, there was a $250 fine for the first offense, $350 for the second, and $450 for the third offense.
The updated code also stated if a person's name was clearly found in litter on documents like bank statements, utility bills, bank card bills, and other financial documents, it would constitute a "rebuttal presumption" that the person knowingly disposed of the litter.
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A notice would be sent to the person advising them their documents were found in the litter and that littering is a misdemeanor. The person has 15 days to respond with evidence or information that proves they did not know where the trash would be disposed of. The information is reviewed and a decision of whether action should or shouldn't be taken is determined.
If a person does not respond in 15 days, an offense for littering can be filed.
"There are people that will hire someone to clean out a house, maybe it's a rental house, or maybe it's their own house and it does have their identification within the trash. Maybe the company they are hiring is saying I'm going to take it to the landfill. They in fact don't take it to the landfill. Well, we are still going to go back to the homeowner. That's their responsibility to ensure it's been taken to the landfill," said Kent Back, Gadsden City Council President.
"Obviously, we don't want to see people throwing out a sack of fast food going down Rainbow Drive or anything like that, but predominantly what we are talking about is household residue, household garbage that could be the white litter bags that we all use that could be in these defacto landfills," said Back.
Back said litter piles are an issue every district in the city is dealing with.
People who live near litter piles said it's a constant problem.
"It's every day just about. Some garbage of some form or fashion," said Barbara Butler.
She said she sees all types of litter thrown out in front of her home on Walnut Street.
"It blows into my yard, what can come through the fence. If it doesn't it just lodges against the fence. Makes my property look horrible," she explained.
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Another resident who did not want to be identified said a pile on California Street wasn't made by people who live there.
"When I sit down right here, I saw people driving the car, and taking the trash and go away," she explained. "My kids go outside and play and it's not healthy for the kids. It can make them sick. Everybody could get sick, you never know."
Butler believed the added fines would cut down on littering.
"Usually, if you have to put out a little bit of money and effort, you are going to think about what you are doing wrong," she said.
The litter piles cause an array of issues, from impacting the city's drainage system to taking employees away from their normal jobs to go clean up the piles.
"It's just unnecessary and it's not a wise use of tax dollars. We'd much rather spend our tax dollars in maybe more noticeable areas like fixing streets that need to be fixed or improving our drainage," said Back. "No city has just more money than they need. We all try to do as much as we can with the least amount of possible resources that are needed but when these unnecessary expenses rear their ugly head because somebody is lazy and they are just going to take [trash] two houses down or two blocks down and dump it and let the city pick it up. Well, it causes all of those other problems, not just the fact of the costs of having to go pick it up like that, but the other costs associated with the drainage and stopping it up."
More action aimed at illegal dumping and littering could be coming.
"I'm not exactly sure what the mayor's office and team and public works department are discussing but I think one is probably the use of cameras. We know where these sites are because people continue to go there. Properly placed cameras will hopefully capture tag numbers, license place, a legible picture of the people that are doing this that would aid in the enforcement of the ordinance," said Back.
He added anyone who lives within the City of Gadsden can take trash to the landfill free of charge.