That’s because a city law called the People’s Ordinance provides trash collection - at no charge beyond standard taxes - only to homes in which residents stay for at least one month at a time.Įlliott wrote that it is legally risky to double the amount of service to an area where the city is already aware it’s collecting trash from homes that are ineligible: short-term vacation rentals. In a memo issued in June, Elliott wrote that the presence of so many vacation rentals in Mission Beach made it “very likely” the second trash pick-up was illegal.
Zapf has urged community leaders to find an ongoing funding source, such as a special tax district.Īn attempt in 2016 to form such a district was aborted when property owners objected to the proposed fees and fee structure.įaulconer and the council have supported the second weekly pick-up despite concerns raised by San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott. “Flies are detrimental to our businesses, environmental health, quality of life, tourist experience and community image.” “Eight years ago our refuse removal schedule was decreased, creating a perfect breeding ground for filth flies, and ever since our community has struggled with a summer fly infestation,” Reilly said in an email. “We are delighted that this year the conversations were shorter, the man hours less, the process more streamlined,” said Dawn Reilly, project administrator for the nonprofit advocacy group Beautiful Mission Beach. Not until the second pick-up was restored did the problem essentially go away.
The city and community leaders tried several incremental remedies during the six summers during which there was no second trash pick-up, including street vacuuming, special liners in trash cans and door hangers to educate tourists. Trash is also still picked up each Tuesday in Mission Beach.
The second weekly pick-up takes places on Saturdays from early July through early October. Many of those additional people stay for only a week or two in vacation rentals, leaving them confused about trash handling and not focused on snuffing out flies.īecause most vacation properties are rented weekly from Saturday to Saturday, departing tenants across Mission Beach typically throw away all of their uneaten food simultaneously when they leave on Saturday mornings. The winter population of Mission Beach is less than 6,000, but tourists increase that number to an estimated 20,000 in the more fly-friendly summer. A scientist hired by the city said in 2013 that Mission Beach struggles with flies more than other parts of San Diego because it has high-density housing, relatively little open space and scavengers who pry open trash cans and rip into bags searching for recyclable items, which allows flies to enter and lay eggs.
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