Dispute regarding trash cans for alley pick-up in DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. This is the most entertaining thread ever, with nuggets of very helpful insights. Thanks, DCUM forum. The odd thing is we had no idea this new neighbor existed until months after he moved in, and the previous resident didn't mind us leaving them there. We didn't know there was a new occupant in that house.

We can't modify the fence because--and this is tough to explain in text--the sides and back of the fence are indeed shared with two other houses. The fence predates our arrival. If the three of us had the cash, maybe we'd collectively tear it down and start over. We all are affected by this new neighbor's position (it's not just our trash cans). He has his property deed on his side, and none of us dispute that. As for generating the good will of his new neighbors, well, that's another story...

It’s possible to cut out a gate without affecting the rest of the fence. Might not be cheap, but that’s not your neighbor’s problem.

Do you at least acknowledge now that you’re not actually “entitled” (your original word) to put your trash on his property?

This. OP is misrepresenting the situation. She could leave the sides of the fence that she shares with neighbors intact, and cut out a trash storage area from the part of her property that abuts the alley. She just prefers not to. And yes, I've owned and lived in a DC rowhouse for 15 years plus rented a different one before that. Rats are a huge problem in DC rowhouses and there's NO WAY I would allow people to store their trash on my property 2x/week for that reason alone.

OP, just stop it. You're not entitled to use your neighbor's property. Learn to be a good neighbor and respect your neighbor's rights.

[Anonymous]

This is a perfect example of mememe attitudes and a lot of community and it takes a village BS. This person expects this new neighbor to be neighborly and show a sense of community towards him but he had no idea that there was even a new neighbor. Op hasn’t reached out to speak to that person since. . Yet, there is some kind of expectation that this new person is supposed to be neighborly in return. While I can’t guarantee it, I bet the new neighbors would have been willing to share the grassy area had people come up to them and welcome them to the neighborhood and been cordial from the beginning.

Ps- apologies for the typos and if some sentences don’t make sense. I forgot my glasses!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: This is a perfect example of mememe attitudes and a lot of community and it takes a village BS. This person expects this new neighbor to be neighborly and show a sense of community towards him but he had no idea that there was even a new neighbor. Op hasn’t reached out to speak to that person since. . Yet, there is some kind of expectation that this new person is supposed to be neighborly in return. While I can’t guarantee it, I bet the new neighbors would have been willing to share the grassy area had people come up to them and welcome them to the neighborhood and been cordial from the beginning.

Ps- apologies for the typos and if some sentences don’t make sense. I forgot my glasses!

Op stated upthread that they didn’t know they had a new neighbor. Learn to read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: This is a perfect example of mememe attitudes and a lot of community and it takes a village BS. This person expects this new neighbor to be neighborly and show a sense of community towards him but he had no idea that there was even a new neighbor. Op hasn’t reached out to speak to that person since. . Yet, there is some kind of expectation that this new person is supposed to be neighborly in return. While I can’t guarantee it, I bet the new neighbors would have been willing to share the grassy area had people come up to them and welcome them to the neighborhood and been cordial from the beginning.

Ps- apologies for the typos and if some sentences don’t make sense. I forgot my glasses!

Op stated upthread that they didn’t know they had a new neighbor. Learn to read.

You learn to read genius -- that was what the pp said and part of his/her point: THAT OP DID NOT EVEN KNOW THERE WAS A NEW NEIGHBOR!!!!!.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: This is a perfect example of mememe attitudes and a lot of community and it takes a village BS. This person expects this new neighbor to be neighborly and show a sense of community towards him but he had no idea that there was even a new neighbor. Op hasn’t reached out to speak to that person since. . Yet, there is some kind of expectation that this new person is supposed to be neighborly in return. While I can’t guarantee it, I bet the new neighbors would have been willing to share the grassy area had people come up to them and welcome them to the neighborhood and been cordial from the beginning.

Ps- apologies for the typos and if some sentences don’t make sense. I forgot my glasses!

Op stated upthread that they didn’t know they had a new neighbor. Learn to read.

You learn to read genius -- that was what the pp said and part of his/her point: THAT OP DID NOT EVEN KNOW THERE WAS A NEW NEIGHBOR!!!!!.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

This thread is agonizingly confusing. 13 pages in and I still don't understand what OP's yard looks like.

Leave the cans in the alley. DPW will just put them back behind the truck after they empty them. Easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Lots can be really weird in DC. Her house could be landlocked and have a narrow passage over other lots, instead of having her own fence facing the alley. From what she's explained, it would be possible to change the fence, but all 3 neighbors would have to do it together.

Or OP can do a cutout on just her portion of the fence.

Again, OP may not even have a fence on the alley. She may access the alley over a neighbor's lot.

DP here. There's no chance that OP has a legitimate reason that she neglected to share after all all her crazy contortions to prove she's entitled to use her neighbor's property.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't you get ticketed for having cans out in the alley on non-pickup days? We have a similar problem where the developer built our driveway just long enough for two cars, but no space for cans. So ours stay out all week. Luckily our neighbors on both sides don't mind our cans going in their driveway. (Of course we also aren't supposed to have city pick up, but where the private hauler cans would go is a mystery. We are just renters, but don't want to risk losing our parking so we don't say anything.)

No, not in DC. Unless there designated neighborhoods that have that have too, but for the most part all the DC neighborhood leave them in the alley 24/7. My alley specifically is wide enough for can and for a car to get through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is agonizingly confusing. 13 pages in and I still don't understand what OP's yard looks like.

Leave the cans in the alley. DPW will just put them back behind the truck after they empty them. Easy.

This. The trash guys will move them out of the truck drivers way anyway and will probably end up moving your cans to the neighbors patch once they are done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

without obstructing the path of vehicles moving up and down the alley

Then, obstruct. See how that works for everyone

The trash vehicles will adjust, and after taking the trash, they will leave OP's empty trash cans in OP's neighbor's patch of grass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We had no idea this was private property; it's a strip of grass outside his fenced-in back yard. We saw cans there the first time we put out our trash out 10+ years ago, as well as cans on other similar patches of grass up and down the alley. It's been the convention on the block that these patches of land outside of fenced-in yards are where cans get picked up on trash day. Anywhere from 1 to 3 houses' cans are on a given patch. It wasn't until this new neighbor told me that this patch outside his fence is his private property that it occurred to us: technically, these patches aren't all part of the alley's communal space (at least, not according to this neighbor).

No one is questioning that he has the right to dictate whether and how his property is used by others. He's just not generating any good will here.

This is the convention in our alley as well. The alley has a narrow part and a wider part -- any cans in the narrow part would block all cars (and the trash truck). Neighbors cluster their cans on certain unused strips that are most likely on the lots of certain houses but unused. Nobody seems to have an issue with it, for obvious reasons. Sorry that you had a newcomer ruin it! Hopefully you can move your cans to another spot.

We do this same thing on our block. Many of the houses behind us are built all the way to the end of their property lines, so everyone lines their trash cans on our side of the alley. As long as you're not blocking someone's access into/out of their property, no one on our block has a problem with it.

I'm curious about the new neighbor's patch of grass - does leaving the cans block his access to his property? Or is that patch of grass behind his fence?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't you get ticketed for having cans out in the alley on non-pickup days? We have a similar problem where the developer built our driveway just long enough for two cars, but no space for cans. So ours stay out all week. Luckily our neighbors on both sides don't mind our cans going in their driveway. (Of course we also aren't supposed to have city pick up, but where the private hauler cans would go is a mystery. We are just renters, but don't want to risk losing our parking so we don't say anything.)

No, not in DC. Unless there designated neighborhoods that have that have too, but for the most part all the DC neighborhood leave them in the alley 24/7. My alley specifically is wide enough for can and for a car to get through.

This is not true. You can be ticketed for not removing your cans from the alley.