Valley may require trash be picked up

Budget-minded Spokane Valley residents have hauled their own garbage to the waste transfer station for years, an option many choose over the monthly expense of having the trash removed for them by a private company.

That could change under a measure now in the Planning Commission’s recommended draft of the Spokane Valley Comprehensive Plan that would make curbside trash pickup mandatory.

“I guess it goes down to overall beautification of the city,” said Planning Commissioner Fred Beaulac.

Many of the city’s code enforcement complaints center around houses where people without trash service let garbage pile up on their property rather than hauling it off.

“That’s certainly come up as an issue within the community,” said Community Development Director Marina Sukup. Mandating trash pickup would make it easier for the city to eliminate nuisances, she said.

The commission added the policy to the solid waste goals of the Comprehensive Plan’s capital facilities chapter.

The document contains broad planning goals and policies that will guide the next 20 years of growth in Spokane Valley. The commission spent most of the summer reviewing and tweaking the document. The City Council began its deliberations on the plan this week, and has not yet discussed the garbage service requirement.

Until then, the council will likely face a number of people opposed to the curbside-pickup requirement.

According to Waste Management figures previously reported, about 35 to 40 percent of Spokane Valley residences do not subscribe to the garbage service. Garbage service is mandatory in the city of Spokane. It is optional in Liberty Lake.

“Why should it be mandatory to have garbage service – or should I say a hefty garbage bill – if a person chooses to dispose at the waste transfer station for a lesser price?” Spokane Valley resident Brenda Foley said in an e-mail.

She subscribes to the garbage service, but said she opposes forcing people to do so.

Others who responded to a Spokesman-Review request for comments said they are wary of the price of the service and the fact that a private company would benefit from the requirement.

“Many people chose the Valley because they were pretty much left alone,” Donald Fitzgerald said.

The issue was hotly debated by the Planning Commission, said Bill Gothmann, a commissioner and Position 6 council candidate. Some commissioners felt the requirement would infringe on individual liberties. Gothmann contends that mandatory garbage service “is one of the urban services that we as a city need to recognize we need to have.”

The commission left enforcement and other details for the council to work out.

Waste Management charges about $30 per month for a 96-gallon cart dumped once each week. The city of Spokane, which operates its own garbage service, charges $21.88 for a 68-gallon cart.