Starting July 1, Fayetteville residents who live on certain private streets won’t have their household trash picked up at their homes but at an alternative site with easier access for garbage trucks.
The change is part of an ordinance adopted by the Fayetteville City Council on Feb. 27. The ordinance is meant to protect city vehicles and employees from the hazards of working on unmaintained private streets.
Daniel Edwards, director of the city’s Solid Waste Division, said in an interview that there are 98 private streets in Fayetteville. Of those, approximately 67 could be affected by the ordinance, though Edwards stressed that this is a preliminary figure. The Solid Waste Division will determine the specific streets at a later date, prior to the ordinance’s effective date on July 1.
“That's our early numbers right now,” Edwards said. “We're still doing our due diligence to make sure we identify which private streets we can and cannot go down.”
The streets most likely to be affected, Edwards said, are unpaved, narrow streets with branches and other foliage that block the routes of vehicles.
“You just kind of see the tire tracks — the tire tracks from vehicles going back and forth,” Edwards said, describing the streets that could be affected. “Depending on how narrow the road is, there’s a risk of sliding or getting stuck.”
In the past, city vehicles have been damaged on such streets, Edwards said, but the solid waste director said he did not have a specific monetary figure calculating the damage.
Trash from homes on these streets will still be collected. The city will designate an alternative site for pickup for each street affected.
“We will be informing the owners and occupants of the different location,” Edwards said. “The residents will bring their garbage to that area.”
Edwards said other municipalities in North Carolina and across the country have similar provisions for unmaintained private streets.
“This is nothing new,” Edwards said. “This is the best practice with many municipalities.”
Besides the private street restrictions, the ordinance also limits how much waste will be collected at each pickup: two carts for garbage, one cart for recycling, 10 containers of yard waste and 10 cubic yards of tree limbs.
Ben Sessoms covers Fayetteville and education for CityView. He can be reached at bsessoms@cityviewnc.com.
