City officials, local resident search for solution to trash problem
Published 7:00 am Saturday, January 24, 2015
GROWING CONCERN: Picayune resident Bjorn Windom hopes to solve the trash problem that is affecting his property. City officials are in the process of having a fence installed that will separate Windom’s property from the adjacent commercial area.
Photo by Dart Spiers
When Picayune resident Bjorn Windom purchased property directly behind a local shopping center off Memorial Boulevard, he had plans to clear-cut the thick brush and renovate the property.
As he continued to clear his land, Windom said he noticed more and more trash showing up in his yard.
Windom said the trash had blown over from the local businesses in the nearby shopping center.
“Every business is supposed to have their own dumpster,” said Windom, “But there’s only two behind the entire shopping center.”
City of Picayune Code Enforcement Officer Tom Millar said he spoke to the shopping center’s property owner and found that store owners were having issues with people dumping their personal garbage in the businesses’ dumpsters, leading to a lack of space and possible overflow.
Some of the trash that Windom found on his property while cleaning up his yard supported this claim. He found trash that was not limited to the adjacent businesses, including students’ progress reports and homework, as well as garbage from out-of-state businesses in Slidell, La.
Windom said he purchased around $70 worth of trash bags to clean up his property over the course of several months. Ultimately, he said he contacted city of Picayune officials to find a more permanent solution.
“I did some research and studied the city ordinances,” said Windom, who found that according to code, commercials areas are supposed to have a boundary that separates them from residential areas.
Millar confirmed Windom’s findings and said he had already taken measures to address this problem.
Millar said he spoke to the property owner on the phone and sent him a letter on Thursday regarding the addition of a fence. The fence would serve as a boundary between the two properties and would satisfy city ordinances. Millar added that he has every reason to believe the owner will be cooperative in this matter.
Windom said that while a fence would help his situation, he is still concerned about the trash.
Millar said he relayed these concerns to the shopping center’s property owner in the letter, and he expects the owner’s parking lot grounds crew will help resolve the trash situation.
