Malden City Council Backs Ban On Dumpsters In Parking Spaces

MALDEN, MA — A practice of placing large dumpsters in parking spaces before and after trash pickup in downtown Malden may soon come to an end for area property owners under a new proposal pitched by the Malden Mayor’s Office.

Mayor Gary Christenson detailed the regulation amendment in a letter filed with the Malden City Council. The council discussed the proposal this week, generally supporting the change.

“It’s messy and it’s careless,” Councilor Amanda Linehan said of current would-be violators on Tuesday.

She said the sight of dumpsters blocking downtown parking spaces is a pet peeve of hers and a common complaint from constituents. She called the practice "insulting."

Malden has existing trash regulations. Under those rules, though, Christenson said some property owners have been hauling their dumpsters into parking spaces before pickup. Christenson said trash haulers will then empty the trash and place the dumpsters back into the parking spaces, which are in high demand in Malden’s often bustling core.

The city’s proposed amendment would now require dumpsters to stay off the street, placing an onus on trash haulers to remove the dumpsters from their interior storage location and return them once again once they are empty.

The entire City Council signed on as a sponsor of the amendment this week, with multiple councilors noting that the change would also help Malden in its ongoing fight against rodent populations that might feed off trash left out in the open.

Councilors then opted to refer the amendment to their Rules and Ordinance Subcommittee for further discussion.

The first of two proposed amendments from Christenson on Tuesday, the dumpster regulation was followed by a separate regulation that would require work crews on various projects to remove street and sidewalk Dig Safe markings after they complete projects.

State law requires crews to mark public utilities usually through the Dig Safe program before beginning any construction or other work.

Often, crews then leave their work area after they complete a project with Dig Safe markings still dotting roadways and sidewalks.

The city is looking to change that, asking Dig Safe to notify the Department of Public Works of all markings done in Malden and requiring work crews to erase those markings once they’re no longer needed.

Dig Safe DPW notifications would aim to help facilitate enforcement, Christenson wrote in his letter.

City Council President Craig Spadafora backed this proposal, saying current lingering Dig Safe markings look “like graffiti on the street.”

“You think the utilities would be nice enough to (remove the markings),” Spadafora said. “But they don’t.”

The City Council referred the markings regulation change, like the dumpster amendment, into subcommittee for further discussion.