Pittsburgh council's Charland trashes unwieldy city system for garbage citations

Pittsburgh Councilperson Bob Charland wants to make it easier to cite people who leave trash on their property.

Charland, D-South Side, on Tuesday introduced legislation that would allow city inspectors to issue citations and fines for people who leave garbage on their property, improperly store garbage cans or leave garbage cans at the curb too long before or after trash pick-up.

The measure would allow inspectors to issue quality-of-life tickets to people who violate existing city rules governing garbage.

The impetus for the legislation, Charland said, was knowing the existing system for enforcing such rules was “wildly inefficient.”

Under the current system, Charland explained, city inspectors have to see a violation three times before they can take action. They then begin a court process that often takes six weeks or longer. Often, people have remedied the issue before it goes to court, Charland said, and the case is simply dismissed.

“Inspectors are disincentivized to actually start an enforcement case because they know the end result is going to be nothing changes,” Charland said.

Charland’s legislation — co-sponsored by Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, D-Squirrel Hill — would allow inspectors to ticket people on the spot.

He equated it to a “parking ticket for property violations.”

People would be charged $35 for their first offense, $50 for their second and $100 for a third offense within one calendar year.

The city’s three-man anti-litter team — which is housed in the Department of Public Works — will handle the citations, Charland said, but he hopes to expand that effort.

Garbage, Charland said, “is the one common issue that affects all of my neighborhoods — and I believe affects every neighborhood in the city.”

“The city is dirty,” he said. “This won’t be the silver bullet that suddenly stops all our trash and litter violations, but it will be a positive step in the right direction.”

About 40 other municipalities throughout the commonwealth — including Blawnox, Jeannette and Erie — have similar measures in effect, Charland said. The goal is to make the process of enforcing trash ordinances more streamlined and fair, he said, and less labor-intensive.

Currently, Charland said, most of the enforcement the city does around trash issues is based on complaints from neighbors.

The measure is not intended to punish residents who truly can’t maintain their own trash, Charland said. Residents who have signed up for other city programs to help elderly or disabled residents maintain their properties will automatically be exempted from quality-of-life tickets.

The legislation is similar to a measure that Bruce Kraus, a former councilman and Charland’s predecessor, introduced in 2022. That bill included a similar system for ticketing people who did not maintain trash on their property and included a provision for properties with unwieldy weeds or uncut grass.

That measure stalled, but is largely revived in Charland’s new legislation. The new measure does not include any mention of weeds or uncut grass.

The legislation was introduced at City Council Tuesday. It will appear before council next week for further discussion.