Park Advisory Board to Revisit Trash Bin Relocation

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

The Department of Recreation and Parks is searching for final approval for a new location for trash bins at Palisades Recreation Center—one that, they hope, will cause the least disturbance and be the most beneficial for neighboring homeowners, tennis players and park visitors.

As of today, the six trash bins are located in the maintenance yard area of the park, where they are emptied two times per week as early as 5:15 a.m., one audience member explained. In addition to the rec center, the bins are used for trash from Temescal Park and the Bluffs.

Several neighbors from The Huntington attended the Oct. 17 Pacific Palisades Park Advisory Board Meeting to express concerns about young children being woken up by the slamming of bin lids when they are emptied, as well as rats that are attracted to the bins that then make their way to the surrounding homes, damaging homeowners’ property.

After a lengthy discussion and listening to the concerns of the neighbors, the Park Advisory Board unanimously approved (with one abstaining vote) moving the bins to an open area next to a shipping container used by the baseball teams near the tennis courts—a location proposed by the Department of Recreation and Parks that would convert approximately 1,400 square feet of what is now asphalt into green space.

The board asked member Gustaf Soderbergh to design an enclosure for the bins that they hope will make them secure, odor-free and out of sight from nearby residents and tennis players.

“There’s an almost 100 percent chance tennis players will complain,” Palisades Tennis Center’s Mike Tomas said at the meeting.

Several spots were considered but this spot was the closest thing to a “win-win for everybody,” Park Director Erich Haas explained.

Residents of Frontera Drive are not so sure.

“Where the bins are going to be moved, I’m as close as you can be,” resident Mark Victor explained to the Palisadian-Post.

Possible issues at the proposed location Victor cited were the bins blocking a busy thoroughfare from Frontera to the park, as well as animals and people riffling through the bin after park hours when the lights are shut off with young children walking by.

Though the new location would be near homes, it would be 54 feet away, as opposed to 24 feet away where they are located now, according to Vice Chair of the Park Advisory Board Robert “Bob” Harter.

After continuing community concern, the moving of the bins returned to the Park Advisory Board’s agenda for a special meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 30, with a chance for additional public comment and an explanation letter to be read by Harter.

“At the Park Board’s January [16] meeting, the community will have an opportunity to comment on whether the idea of moving the bins should be given final approval,” Harter explained. “In any event, the bins will not be moved unless the plan has been approved by the Department of Recreation and Parks and the bin enclosure is in place.”

Concerned community members will have a chance to discuss the matter of the bins at the Jan. 16 meeting before the board votes again for final approval.

“Whether or not the plan receives final approval, the park has a problem that requires urgent attention,” he continued. “The maintenance yard is infested with rats, and the rats must be immediately eliminated.”

“Everyone’s got to put their heads together and find a better place [to move the bins],” Victor expressed. “Nobody wants a conflict, we just want a solution that makes sense.”

The Oct. 30 meeting took place at 7 p.m.—after the Post had gone to print. For more information on Haas’ rat update as well as additional input from the community on the moving of the bins, see the Nov. 8 edition.