Residents, Board 5 Appeal To City For Action
Ridgewood residents and Community Board 5 are calling for action to stop private garbage trucks and related equipment from being stored on a neighborhood lot.
Since the summer, residents claim, operators of a private hauler have parked their rigs at 61-20 Metropolitan Ave., which is zoned for commercial purposes.
Local resident Anthony Billmar told the Times Newsweekly the trucks created an awful stink during the summer, as those neighboring the lot experienced foul garbage odors on particularly hot days.
“The smell was unbelievable,” he told this paper, adding that some of the rigs were as close to 12 feet away from neighboring homes, forcing residents to keep their windows closed.
Information on the side of the trucks indicated the rigs belonged to LP Construction Company with an address located in upstate Marathon, a town located about 24 miles north of Binghamton.
According to Billmar, workers have since begun converting what looks to be an empty trailer into a storage shed, with plywood and other construction materials resting atop of it.
Board 5 became abreast of the situation and contacted the Department of Buildings and the Department of Sanitation seeking an investigation into the matter and, if deemed appropriate, corrective measures.
“That’s not a typical commercial enterprise,” Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano told the Times Newsweekly on Tuesday, Oct. 14. “While [the storage of garbage trucks] might be permitted in a manufacturing zone, I don’t believe it’s permitted in that commercial district.”
“We don’t want that next to his home or to those who live on the other side of it,” he added.
Board 5 advised the Times Newsweekly later on Tuesday that the Sanitation Department’s Enforcement Unit is investigating the situation.
