NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) - The city’s law director is looking to Canton for ways to reduce the mounds of garbage that can pile up on the city’s curbs. 

Marvin Fete says landlords evict tenants then throw everything from the unit – trash, furniture, appliances – on the curb. He says sometimes the garbage stays there for more than a week because trash collectors need to schedule a special pickup.

“We all want to make sure that this city looks good and that it’s safe and healthy for everybody. I understand that the landlords have an obligation. If they’re not getting rent, that’s a problem and the law provides for that but by the same token, we just can’t have that sitting out on our curbsides on a regular basis,” he says. “It’s really becoming an eyesore and it’s not something you want in your community

Fete says he is looking to borrow some wording from Canton ordinances to adopt in New Phila.

“We are looking at possibly requiring landlords to provide a dumpster for that sort of thing and then we would charge accordingly based on the amount of trash we have to pick up there,” he says.

Fete says the city does not presently have an ordinance that addresses this problem.

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