Trash cans pulled but not immediately replaced for several La Jolla residents

As the city of San Diego began delivering new gray trash bins to homes with city-provided trash and recycling service and removing the old black bins, the process hit some snags, leading some La Jolla residents to leave their trash in bags along the street.

Before the swap-out process began the week of Oct. 13, the city said delivery of new bins for most customers would happen the same day as the removal of their old ones.

More than 225,000 households are eligible for city-provided trash service, so the delivery process is expected to take place over several months. Trash bins are the first phase of the rollout, and new light blue recycling bins will be delivered later. Once new bins are delivered, the city will collect only from the new bins.

The entire process could extend into late summer. It does not include new green organic waste bins unless requested by a homeowner.

The developments are the result of Measure B, a 2022 city ballot measure that instituted a fee for trash services for single-family customers and some small multi-family complexes. Businesses and most multi-family communities pay private haulers.

The new bins contain microchips that the city says enable better tracking of services.

Early pickups, late replacements in La Jolla

The La Jolla Light spoke to several residents on a pair of streets near “The Throat” — the intersection of La Jolla Parkway, Torrey Pines Road and Hidden Valley Road — and in La Jolla Shores whose old bins were removed but not replaced.

The matter also was discussed publicly at the Oct. 15 La Jolla Shores Association meeting, when local resident and LJSA board member Angie Preisendorfer said that her trash bin and those of several of her neighbors had been picked up two days earlier without a substitute.

Preisendorfer said the city trash services website indicated her neighborhood wasn’t slated for bin replacement until January, so she called to alert city staff to the issue. The call took about 45 minutes and the matter wasn’t resolved until nearly a week later, when a new can was delivered Oct. 19, she later told the Light.

However, she added, she received one that was larger than what she had ordered online.

“I think I’m kind of a little savvy on how to get onto my portal, which I did, but most of the people don’t even pay attention to their trash cans,” Preisendorfer said. “I have several neighbors who still don’t have a trash can.”

Dan Courtney said all the black trash cans were removed from his street Oct. 13. The residents received their new bins a week later after he and others contacted the city via phone and email, he said.

According to the city website, their neighborhood was projected for the swap-out in January.

“It was not great having to keep our garbage inside the house for a week,” Courtney told the Light.

Several residents resorted to leaving trash bags along the street for a night, though “we’re reluctant to put plastic bags of trash on the street because it attracts rats and raccoons and other wildlife,” Courtney said.

“They were a week late,” neighbor Rick Benson said. “I think for the city, maybe it would be best not to overpromise and underperform, which they always do. They could’ve said ‘We’ll get it to you within a week.’”

“The good news,” Benson added, “was that they came and picked up the trash, even though it wasn’t in the bin.

“[But] is this the worst thing that ever happened to the city? We’ve got a lot of issues. So I wasn’t too bent out of shape.”

‘Isolated cases’

City spokeswoman Kelly Terry said officials were aware of “isolated cases” of properties not receiving new bins on the same day. She added that such instances “have generally been corrected within 48 hours.”

On delivery dates, the city must empty old trash bins, have them taken away by a removal crew and coordinate delivery of new bins.

“There were some cases … where removal crews erroneously went beyond the designated route and removed bins ahead of their scheduled date,” according to a city statement Terry gave to the Light. “Once [the] Environmental Services [Department] became aware of these cases, they worked quickly to correct the issue by delivering new trash bins as soon as possible and updating delivery dates to align dates of adjacent sections of neighborhoods to minimize or eliminate errors.”

City crews have been scanning new bins as they are delivered, contributing to a database and enabling the city to compare orders with deliveries.

“Now that we have gotten through a full week of deliveries and removals, we have updated our approach and are making adjustments in real time to streamline the process,” Jeremy Bauer, assistant director of environmental services, said in the statement.

Where to go for help

Property owners eligible for city trash service can see their scheduled bin replacement dates at sandiego.gov/trash or in mailers sent by the Environmental Services Department. Email and text notifications also are available for people who opted in for the alerts through the Residential Waste Collection Services Portal (wasteportal.sandiego.gov).

City Council President Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla, told the Light that he appreciates the patience of his La Jolla neighbors and credited city crews for remedying the recent delivery issues.

Questions about the bin replacement process can be directed to Environmental Services by email at trash@sandiego.gov or by phone at 858-694-7000.

LaCava encouraged residents to email his office at joelacava@sandiego.gov for any further assistance.