Thousands of San Diego properties kicked off city trash pickup have no service lined up

As the city of San Diego rolls out its new trash system, charging for pickup for the first time ever, thousands of properties have been deemed ineligible for city service. The city says those that have not made an effort to line up a private hauler will face a fine next month.

About 20,000 properties will no longer receive city pickup, places like commercial or multi-use buildings, gated communities, properties without enough space to store containers, and properties with five or more residences on a single lot.

Of those, about 75% have found a private hauler, the city said, leaving about 5,000 properties that do not have service lined up.

“For those that haven’t yet, we standby to help them, to communicate with them, to help connect them with information on the available private haulers,” said Jeremy Bauer, assistant director of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department.

This week, the city said it plans to send notices of violation for those who have not yet signed up, and if no action is taken in 30 days — after receiving five mailers plus additional notices — the city will issue $200 citations, potentially followed by an additional $250 every 14 days thereafter.

Bauer said the citation “really isn’t about being a punishment.”

“It’s really more about recovering the cost of providing the service,” he said. “Because remember, at this point, everyone is paying for service, whether you’re a city customer or a private hauler customer. These transition customers at that point are not yet paying a fee for their service, so by having that citation, it helps to recover the cost the city is incurring.”

Bauer said the city has the ability to pause enforcement for properties that have made an effort to find service and are in communication with the department.

Amy Siegel is one of the thousands of property owners still searching for a private hauler.

“Horrific. Pretty unrelenting,” Siegel described the process. “It’s been an unpaid part-time job since May.”

Siegel lives in one of 10 row homes in Hillcrest built on a lot that used to be a church. She said each are individual, single-family homes on individual lots that have gotten city pickup since they were built 26 years ago.

Once she found out she would no longer be eligible for pickup, Siegel said she began contacting private haulers. But many told her they did not serve her area or would only work with management companies, homeowners associations and other organizations, which didn’t apply to her.

Months later, through a broker, she said she finally started seeing potential contracts.

“The cheapest was almost just under $70 a month per house, and the most expensive was $140 per month per house,” Siegel said.

That’s about two to four times more than what the city’s charging, between $32 and $44 a month. Siegel said those contracts also initially did not include any sort of price guarantee.

“There has to be some cap. We can’t just give you a blank check,” Siegel said, adding she’s now in what she hopes are the final stages of negotiating a contract with a private hauler to include some kind of ceiling.

“We’re kind of strong-armed and forced into one of two not great options, but we can’t not have our trash collected,” she said. “You can get cited from the city if you don’t have collection, and we’re law-abiding, like, I don’t want to be cited.”

In response to questions about Siegel’s property, the city said it does not set private haulers’ rates.

“The individual who has contacted you has been informed by the City on several occasions that, because she lives in a multi-family complex ineligible for City-provided service under the Municipal Code and Waste Management Regulations, she and others in the complex are no longer eligible for City-serviced trash, recycling and organic waste collection,” the city said in a statement.

“City staff have offered her assistance in finding a private, franchised hauler to provide trash, recycling and organic collections,” the statement continued. “However, to date, the property owner has declined the City’s offer to provide assistance.”

Siegel said she’s unsuccessfully appealed and asked for assistance multiple times from multiple agencies within San Diego city government.

“The response was, ‘Keep trying. Keep trying,’” Siegel said. “That’s like banging your head against the wall. Like, what’s going to change?”