University Avenue in City Heights is one of the busiest parts of East San Diego. Businesses line the corridor and people come and go on foot, by car or on public transit.
With any busy area comes the inevitable trash it produces. But La Casa De Las Piñatas owner Roberto Diaz says there is now a lack of trash cans to deal with the area’s population.
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“They just started disappearing. Now it's become a problem because people don't have anywhere to put their trash and it just seems easier to throw it on the ground,” Diaz said.
More than a decade ago, the City Heights Business Association (CHBA) purchased and installed more than 100 trash cans in the Business Improvement District. But the association started removing them in 2019. Now, several dozen are sitting empty in a city-owned lot.
CHBA Clean & Safe Ambassador Jose Cervantes said the organization removed the trash cans due to improper use.
“Some of the businesses complained about the smell of trash going into their stores. Others complained about those trash cans getting vandalized and having them, the business owners, be the ones dealing with the mess left behind by transients or vandals,” he said. “Others complained about their own neighbors, either residents or business owners abusing those trash cans.”
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One of the business owners who complained is Jose Nuño of La Surtidora.
He said much of the problem was other business owners near his store who were illegally dumping their trash, so he’s happy some of the trash cans are gone and doesn't want them back.
For Diaz, the situation is different. He now has to clean the trash around his storefront and says he never used to have to do that when trash cans were nearby.
“We try to pick up every single day but it's overwhelming, really overwhelming,” Diaz said. “It doesn't stop.”
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Cervantes said the crew maintains the remaining trash cans twice per week and daily in locations with busy intersections on weekdays.
He also added that the organization is willing to accommodate requests from local businesses for additional trash cans in the area.
