Byko: Philly declares war on unsanitary eyesores

THEY ARE DIRTY, eyesores, a magnet for crime and vermin - and the city is going to do something about them.

They are called donation bins or collection bins or charity boxes, and they are scattered around the city, from the worst neighborhoods to the best. Tuesday at noon, standing beside one of the monstrosities at 4100 Germantown Ave., Licenses and Inspection Commissioner David Perri will announce a crackdown on them.

The newly appointed Perri shared with me a list of 70 offenders that are the subjects of a roundup and will be dispatched to that Great Recycling Bin in the sky. (OK, really a scrap yard.)

L&I gave notice to the owners of the bins and, starting Tuesday, "we will collect them, break them down, and recycle the metal," says Perri, aware of the irony of recycling bins that collect clothes to be recycled.

The city code defines a "donation bin" as a "closed container that has an opening through which new or used clothing and other donated items can be deposited and stored temporarily." They must not be in the public right of way, meaning not on sidewalks or traffic islands, not within 500 feet of a residence, and must not interfere with sight lines for drivers or pedestrians. On private property, they must be set back at least 20 feet from the right of way, and in most commercial areas this means at least 32 feet from the edge of the curb.

Why the crackdown?

Defining the problem as "blight," Perri says, "This has been a fairly significant problem across the city."

If you don't think it is a problem, you don't have any near you.

Majeedah Rashid does.

She's the chief operating officer of the Nicetown Community Development Corp., and calls the bins "one of the biggest problems we have. We don't want them in the neighborhood, because they attract short-dumping. It is horrendous and we can't get rid of them.

"They are nuisances, they attract vermin and rodents and things like that, and we are constantly organizing cleanups," she says.

City Councilwoman Cindy Bass has been a proponent of enforcement against unsightly and illegal bins.

"For certain you've never heard anyone say they beautify the neighborhood, they look so great, they bring out the best in our community," she says, dripping with sarcasm.

They promote illegal drugs, she says, because "these boxes have become a way of storing the drug product and hiding it from the police, and become part of the crime culture."

The roundup is "just another step to bring order to the public right of way," says Perri, who was streets commissioner until late last year, when Mayor Kenney tapped him to take over the trouble-plagued L&I.

Before confiscation, a sticker is attached to the offending bin warning that it violates the Philadelphia code and "must be removed within five days" or it will be confiscated.

All that's required to be legal, Perri says, is a basic business license, but the bins must "not be placed in the public right of way" and must have the owner's permission before being placed on private property.

The bins are another manifestation of a Philadelphia addytude that favors doing what you want, irrespective of the law or your neighbors' feelings. The disregard for the law includes motorists who speed, jaywalkers, sidewalk-riding bicyclists, dog owners who don't clean up after their pets, and litterbugs. All affect quality of life.

My colleague Helen Ubiñas coined a term - Philly shrug - for people who don't care about things that matter. Can I use "Philly finger" for people who don't care about the rules?

Perri says he doubts the roundup will harm legitimate charities that use collection bins.

Few do, as it turns out.

Goodwill no longer uses bins in Philadelphia, I am told by Mark Boyd, CEO of Goodwill Industries of Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia.

"I find them to be very ugly. I don't think it puts forth the brand image I want for Goodwill," Boyd says.

"We have moved to an attended donation center model. There is someone there to receive it and keep the area clean," says Boyd.

The Salvation Army has only five collection bins, "all on our property," says Maj. Kevin Schoch, administrator of business.

He had more, "but I removed them all because they didn't meet the conditions of the ordinance" passed by the city last year, "mostly because of distance from residential properties."

The worst violator, accounting for fully half the 70 illegal boxes, are the bright yellow ones placed by Planet Aid.

Citing the amendment passed last year, "Planet Aid understood its bins were compliant," says spokesman Andrew Rice, adding that all of its offending bins would be removed by Tuesday. He couldn't tell me how many bins Planet Aid had inside city limits.

"A lot of nonprofits and for-profits have put boxes out in recent years," cutting into the Salvation Army's business, says Schoch, who grouses that some of the "for-profits are giving up pennies on pounds."

There have been published reports about how some for-profit businesses set up collection bins to scam the well-intended public.

L&I can't stop them - all they need is a business license - but it's going to make sure they play by all the other rules.

stubyko@phillynews.com

215-854-5977N>@StuBykofsky

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