BALTIMORE — We’re talking trash in the Hanlon Park neighborhood and this story reeks. The property behind 3314 Carlisle Avenue contains a dumpster that measures 4 yards.
One Wednesday the cover was bent back and trash was piling up and overflowing. It smelt like rotting fish.
"It's disgusting," said a nearby homeowner. The neighbor contacted WMAR-2 News hoping to get results. She asked that we not show her face or reveal her name.
"We don't want a problem. We just want it cleaned up," she said. "I can't keep living like this, that's why you guys are here."
A check of city records shows a series of citations for the Carlisle Avenue address dating back to 2016.
Citations range from trash cans without lids, trash pileups, to grass and weeds not being cut.
Wednesday's issue was just the latest.
"We can’t get anyone to cooperate," said another neighbor. "They won’t clean up. They won’t cut the lawn and they won’t help keep the property up.
"The landlord needs to be held accountable," said a neighbor. "A fence would be nice so we don't have to see the trash and it would deter people from illegally dumping in the alley too."
WMAR's Dave Detling took community concerns to property management.
In a statement to WMAR-2 News a spokesperson said:
Thanks for your call. As discussed, we have previously engaged the trash company to have a lock on the dumpster. The lock has been cut off in the past, and based on your observation today, it has likely been removed again. In the near term, we plan to follow the following protocol:live in and around the neighborhood, including our tenants and neighbors."
1.) Replace lock on dumpster and notify trash company so they supply a new lock
2.) Increase our site visits to once per week rather than once every two weeks
3.) Post signs around the property nearby that indicate no dumpling and also that we will be recording that area by video (security cameras)
Long term, I liked your suggestion about some sort of fence. Although I’m skeptical about how effective it would be, I think it’s worth trying since it is something we haven’t yet done. We will get proposals for both a fence around the property and a fence and gate around the dumpster itself and will select one of those two options.
We have had an ongoing issue at the property with external dumping and trash management, which is why we provided trash cans for each unit in the past and then dump them once per week in the dumpster. We are committed as Baltimore natives ourselves to finding some sort of solution that benefits those who live in and around the neighborhood, including our tenants and neighbors."
As for the bulk trash items, the items remain on the property line. There is a pending 311 request to have the items removed by crews.
"We just want it cleaned up and for it to stay that way," said a neighbor. "Let's see how they handle it.
If you have a trash issue or concern you would like Dave Detling, david.detling@wmar.com to investigate, send an email with your name, address, cell phone number and pictures of the issue to storyideas@wmar.com
