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Phoenix may regulate collection bins in lots By Betty Reid The Republic | azcentral.com Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:05 PM Phoenix officials want to start charging both non-profit and for-profit groups that set up collection bins in shopping center parking lots to curb their proliferation. The groups — which collect clothes, shoes, books and household items and then sell them — would have to pay $135 per box annually if the City Council approves the move. “They are overflowing into the parking lot,” Councilman Bill Gates said. “I’m not a supporter of government regulations, but I want to make sure the rights of property owners are not trampled on ... or blight (is created) in some parts of our city.” Gates said some groups don’t have permission to place the bins in the parking lots. Phoenix, the nation’s sixth-largest city, wants to create an ordinance to regulate the boxes. Because the city doesn’t regulate them, Phoenix officials don’t know how many collection bins have popped up. But competition for goods became so vicious at one point, some Valley charities said their collection bins had been bolted shut, vandalized and even towed away. Alan Stephenson, Phoenix Planning and Development acting director, said plans to tack on a fee started about a year ago. As more boxes cropped up, residents began complaining about blight. Some of the owners don’t pick up the materials often enough, and the used items and clothing sometimes overflow onto the parking lot. Phoenix staff also began to raise concerns about boxes blocking parking lots or traffic. Under the proposal, collection-box owners would have to apply for a permit, pay a $135 fee and obtain notarized permission from the property owner. The city would monitor boxes so they don’t block traffic. The council’s subcommittee on Neighborhoods, Planning and Development, Housing and Homeless sent the proposal to the villages. The Phoenix Planning Commission will likely hear it by April and the council could vote by early May. Stephenson said the staff has met with representatives of charitable organizations such as Goodwill and for-profit groups — and they both generally support an ordinance. “All of us know there are good actors out there ... (and) there are bad actors out there who plunk a box out there, offer no maintenance, without a telephone number,” said Kristin Greene, who represents American Textile Recycling Services. “If the ordinance helps weed out the bad actors, clearly, those of us who are the good actors are supportive of the idea.” Greene’s group, a for-profit, has about 200 boxes in Phoenix. Although they support the ordinance, Greene said the amount is steep and will reduce the number of boxes, which will then shrink charitable contributions. Greene’s group gives some of the funds they get for the goods to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence’s Weldon House, which helps families become self-sufficient and independent, Green said. For-profit groups say they donate portions of their proceeds to local organizations. However, critics say the for-profit collectors sell tons of used clothing and shoes on the global marketplace in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Jason Morris, a spokesman for Goodwill, said the group does not place charity boxes on retail lots. But they support the city’s efforts. “It would bring the city of Phoenix in line with other municipalities that those boxes need to be regulated,” Morris said. “If you don’t monitor them, they become blight.” Some Valley municipalities already have rules for donation boxes. Gilbert, for example, wrote its ordinance for donation boxes, which the town calls “recycling containers” in 2006. The town charges for-profits $10 per box, per year and non-profit boxes $5 per box, per year. In 2012, the town issued 95 permits. “When the town is informed that a container is placed on a site without a permit, the company is contacted to either acquire a permit or have the container removed,” said Jennifer Alvarez, Gilbert’s spokeswoman. |
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