One Man's Garbage Is Not Another Man's Treasure

One Grosse Pointe Park man's not-so-neighborly handling of his garbage has the city council rewriting an ordinance that spells out the rightful placement of refuse on trash pick-up days.

The council's Monday night decision to amend the ordinance and require that garbage must be placed in front of one's home comes in response to a dispute between next door neighbors on Barrington.

The neighbors have had an ongoing dispute over one man's decision to put his garbage out in front of his neighbor's home rather than his own.

Technically, the man is placing a portion of his garbage within his property line, which runs on the other side of his driveway closer to his neighbor's home. But the garbage also goes beyond the his property line and onto his neighbor's property.

As the current ordinance reads, the only requirement for garbage collection is placement at the curb, City Attorney Dennis Levasseur said Monday.

Council members and City Manager Dale Krajniak clearly thought the man's handling of his trash was garbage and they wanted to help out a resident who is asking that only his own trash be left his front of his home.

"That's just common sense," Councilman Daniel Clark said.

Krajniak asked, jokingly, whether the man who came to the council asking for help "had ever put your refuse on his side?"

"I've thought about it," the man said.

Levasseur said he will come up with wording for the ordinance that specifies that refuse must be placed not only at the curb but in front of one's own home. He will bring it back to council for a vote to make it official.

Mayor Palmer Heenan thanked the man for letting the council know about the situation.

"We can't fix it if you don't bring it  up," he said. "So thank you for bringing it up."