LAUREL CANYON—Hard to believe that Mulholland, Laurel Canyon and Coldwater have a serious Illegal Dumping problem. It’s a Scenic Corridor, where tourists flock, but locals need to deal with dumping?
The city wants to keep mattresses; left over construction waste; garden clipping; couches – the small dumping that is left by the side of the road – instead of taking it to the dump or calling for special pick up. The actual push for CleanStreetsLA has been a year in the development, the upshot is that the City is relying on you and me to be its eyes on the problem.
Our job description is simple – “see it – report it”
OR, better yet
“ your junk belongs at the dump”
The City is determined to eradicate dumping. It also promises to do a better job following up on our calls. If you’re caught dumping, the city can impose severe penalties.
Think of 311 as “a magic wand” which makes trash disappear. You, your friends and neighbors report the: where, when and what. By downloading this app (click here) you file a Service Request. The first time you visit you download the app, after that it’s a breeze. The city promises to get rid of the dumping pronto. Each and everyone one of us has to do it. It may seem like a BIG ask, but LA has 6,500 miles of streets and 800 miles of alleys. It’s not easy to keep up with all this. The city hopes this program will help it get a handle on the problem.
The city will be counting Service Requests to learn if there are patterns to the dumping. The more reporting we as citizens do, the better chances we have of fighting back against this epidemic.
You can also call 311.
Our dumping removal is usually assigned to a company contracted with the city to haul away construction rubble. In the past, they had to send an employee out to look at the dumping, then order a pick up by the right equipment. We know this has been an inefficient system. The city says this is a thing of the past. Let’s hold them to their word.
As for the dumping that goes on, we’re the ones who see it. We have to call or log in to get the city’s attention. If we don’t, the junk just sits there. My theory is that others feel empowered to dump if they see stuff laying on the side of the road. You have to admit that it’s unlikely that out of the clear blue people think – Oh yeah! This is an acceptable place to dump this junk. They see others who have dumped without any consequences (it saves them money). We’re sick of being your business partner!!!
We have to stop it.
The city also says it will prosecute offenders if they are caught in the act. For us that means take down the license plate. Don’t confront anyone.
WALK THRU TO SIGN UP
- log into the link above – MYLA4311@LACITY.ORG
- from your phone or computer
- you don’t need a DWP account number
- you can report dumping anonymously
- Go to “Service Request”
The city wants you to choose where and what kind of dumping you are reporting (they send out different trucks depending on the type of trash). Pictures are good.
I just 311- ed some HVAC stuff sitting on Mulholland. Within 3 days it was gone!
