[OldNorth] Garbage & parking

[Valerie Vann]

Parking on G st.:

I talked to the owner of the sign making business, who says he doesn't
have much walkin biz, so the permit parking is OK with him. The other
businesses mainly use parking for employees too, and they could get a
visitors permit. Or perhaps the block could be signed for 1 hour without
a resident or visitor permit. 

Also, perhaps the east side of the block
could be left unrestricted. My block has many commercial landscape
maintenance trucks some days, and that makes for interesting parking.
Also it is difficult to get the yard trash picked up, as collection is
usually around 6-7am on Mondays. The uncontainerized clippings are
especially a problem, sometimes they don't get picked up for weeks,
and the street cleaners hardly ever get a clear shot at the parking
areas either.

Garbage:

This has been a concern for me ever since my block got kicked off the
alley pickup (when the alley was "paved"). Unless I keep the cans
on the side of the house in full view of the street, there's no place
to keep them. I've been keeping them on the porch, which works OK
since I have so little garbage I take the empty can down off the
porch and then put in the bagged garbage. 

But I wouldn't have 97 gallons of garbage in a year. And I doubt
I could handle that big a can if full, even with wheels. I sure
couldn't keep it on my porch (my cans are currently 37gal.)

Another problem: we have high curbs, and unless  you put the cans in
the street, the automated trucks can't pick them up. Though I have a
driveway to roll it down, most people don't. And if you put them in
the street, they're always in the way of parking (garbage pickup
is mid-morning, when the day parkers have already arrived), and after
having 3 containers destroyed by being backed into, tipped over,
run over, etc. I've been putting them up on the sidewalk instead (and
retrieving them immediately after the trucks come, but working folks
can't do that.)

In the old central area of Sacramento where they have high curbs
and parking issues, you'd see the cans tipped over in the street,
mashed by cars, and even out in the traffic lanes, a royal pain.

Yuba City has used these auto-garbage systems for years, but they give
residences a choice of three sizes of cans, down to 37 gal. And
you get charged accordingly. Yuba City also supplied a third can
for YARD TRASH. Do it yourselfers had to use that for yard trash,
and commercial outfits had to haul their own if it exceeded the
residential container. They allowed NO yard trash on the street
or in the gutters.

So this garbage proposal is going to be an issue for Old North,
and probably for other neighborhoods with curbs and little
off street parking. 

Sewer rate changes:

Some cities charge for sewer services based on 
actual metered water use, which is a lot fairer than what Davis
does now. I don't have 4 kids needing multiple loads of laundry
a day, so why should I have to pay the same sewar rate?

Valerie Vann
valerie at vanngroup.com