During a recent meeting of the City Council Budget Committee, Charlotte staff recommended that multi-family housing be split into two separate categories for the purposes of receiving future trash collection: multi-family residential and multi-family commercial.
Under the proposal, owner-occupied residences like condominiums and townhomes would be considered multi-family residential, while buildings with multiple units leased to tenets (like apartments), would be considered multi-family commercial. Staff is proposing that owner-occupied multi-family residential still receive city trash service, but service be eliminated for multi-family commercial (rentals).
During the meeting, City Council Member Ed Driggs expressed skepticism about the proposal, and said he was concerned that the City was preparing to treat residents differently based on the kind of housing they occupied.
In 2012, City Council directed staff to undergo a study of Charlotte’s Solid Waste Disposal System. A consultant was hired and a report was released in 2013 that recommended elimination of solid waste disposal service for multi-family residences with five units or more. Further, it was estimated this would result in an annual savings of approximately $3.5 million. The City Council decided not to act on the recommendation and the proposal was temporarily shelved.
On February 1st of this year, during a meeting of Charlotte’s Environment Committee, staff once again recommended elimination of the service to multi-family dwellings. The issue was referred to the Budget Committee and has been discussed there several times. When word of the plan reached members of the public, there was an overwhelming outcry and staff was directed to hold two public forums where citizens could express their concerns. Both were well attended by condominium and townhome owners. Staff’s latest recommendation comes as a result of some of the feedback they received at the forums.
The proposal will receive further consideration at an upcoming April 6th Budget Workshop. In addition, Mayor Pro-Tem Vi Lyles and Councilmember Ed Driggs will be attending REBIC’s April 7th Public Policy meeting to further discuss the issue with members of the development industry.
For more information about the forums that took place and to view some of the presentations, click here.
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