Durel Sheds Light On Trashcan Issue – Lafayette Live

Yesterday on "Mornings with Ken and Bernie"  Lafayette City Council Chairman Jared Bellard stopped by and informed us of a proposed ordinance amendment currently being discussed by the council that would allow the city government to impose fines on home owners that do not remove their trashcans from the side of the road within 24 hours of pickup. We picked the subject up during our weekly "Lafayette Live" segment with City-Parish President Joey Durel.

Mr. Durel explained that the ordinance requiring residents of Lafayette and the unincorporated parish area to remove their trashcans from the side of the road within 24 hours is already in place, but has no fines or punishments for enforcement. The proposed amendment will not introduce new rules, but rather give the current rules teeth for enforcement.

Durel assured listeners that the majority of residents would not be affected by the ordinance, but that it's meant for only perpetual offenders who have been reported to the parish's environmental department.

You and I think like you and I. We see our neighborhoods and the neighborhoods we drive by and for 95% of people it's really not a big deal.

Durel explained that the issue comes down to property value.

I've been to a neighborhood where a local landlord owns a four-plex, and his four-plex is in a neighborhood full of four-plexes, and many of those four-plexes are owned by people literally from California.  At these four-plexes every single four-plex, as far as the eye can see has these trashcans out there, and not just trashcans, the trash that falls out around them. So property values in the area are being devalued because of the trash buildup.

This issue is still being discussed by the council and has not yet been voted on.

To listen to the full interview, click the play button below.