Persistent pile of garbage in Northern Liberties has neighbors irate

The triangle at Second Street and Germantown Avenue is emblematic of Northern Liberties' gentrification: The mega Piazza complex rises as a centerpiece, rimmed by restaurants and sparkling new condos.

But neighbors say a persistent pile of trash that grows each week on a sidewalk in front of one of those new complexes mars the scene. The pile rests in front of a wide protected bike lane, which is separated from the main sidewalk. So the trash appears almost as if it's mid-street.

The pile has become a North v. South issue: North Liberty Triangle, whose residents place the trash there, and South Liberty triangle, whose residents object, are two projects built by the same developer and managed by the same company.

"We really worry about rodents and bugs," said Natalie Palencia, who lives at South Liberty Triangle on Germantown Avenue. "Several of us are having problems with drain flies all of a sudden. We worry they could be coming from the sewers and flourishing in all the garbage piled up. I've been here for almost two years, and we have only had this issues since the garbage started."

Wayward trash is certainly a big problem throughout much of Philly. But neighbors say the ubiquitous pile, which started this year, is glaring because of its persistence even after city workers clear it each week. Neighbors have taken to social media to complain, noting that the pile regrows like a lizard's tail soon after being collected. Someone has erected a sign "Your One Bag of Trash Sets the Trend."

Garbage often spills from plastic bags that break open.

City crews do collect it each Friday, but the pile soon returns. Frustrated neighbors say they file complaints to 311. But those complaints get marked as resolved each time the city crews come by. Then the pile, visible on a recent weekday, reemerges.

North Liberty Triangle is a new 85-unit condo development that offers a fitness center, courtyard, parking, balcony views, and commercial retail, according to its website. It's unclear how many of those units place their trash in the pile.

Both the North and South Liberty complexes were developed by Philly-based Streamline, which specializes in urban infill projects. Malvern-based RowCal manages both complexes. RowCal did not respond to The Inquirer's requests for comment.

Anne Kelly, chief of staff for Councilmember Mark Squilla, said the office is aware of the situation and has been working with North Liberty Triangle on a solution. She said, however, that the complex and its trash fall into a gray area.

Under city rules, some small businesses and multiunit properties can choose to have the city collect their trash and recycling for a fee. Or, the owners can hire private haulers. The city does offer free weekly trash and recycling pickup for condos and co-ops, no matter how many units are in the building.

"This has been more challenging than we realized," Kelly said. "This property is unique in that there are 20 separate addresses in this parcel and that it is listed as a condo, yet has shared egresses."

She is working with the city's legal department "to determine eligibility for collections and/or designated collection space as the property with shared points of egress such as this isn't automatically eligible for collections."

Kelly said the office is working with Crystal Jacobs Shipman, the city's sanitation commissioner, to "identify the proper collection points for this property."

South Liberty Triangle, just across the street, does place some of its trash on the sidewalk, but only on trash day, according to Evan Williams, a board member of that complex's Homeowners Association (HOA).

He said South Liberty Triangle faces a similar situation but came up with a solution. Williams said the original plan by the developer called for using unfinished basement rooms to store trash. However, the HOA felt that could lead to rodent, pest, or health problems.

So South Liberty Triangle began using a room designated for bicycle storage. The bike room now primarily holds trash that gets collected by a private hauler, who is paid by the HOA. Residents place remaining trash or recycling on the sidewalk starting at 7 p.m. Thursday for Friday collection.

Williams faults the city for failing to require developers to file plans for trash disposal.

"We've really struggled with the trash for our building, but the North Liberty triangle complex across the street is much, much larger than ours, and so I'm assuming they have some of the same challenges, but just on a larger scale," Williams said. "We've kind of figured it out for our community. Their situation seems to have just gotten worse."

Williams calls storing trash in unfinished rooms, such as the initial plan called for, "a recipe for disaster." But the HOA doesn't want to pile the trash on the sidewalk, so it continues to use the bike room and private collection, which costs several hundred dollars a month.

"When I moved in, they told all 43 unit owners in our building that the trash plan was to place their garbage on the street for the city to collect, which to me seems absolutely crazy," Williams said. "When we relied on city trash collection, our entire sidewalk was full of garbage."

Williams estimates that he has submitted 100 tickets to the city's 311 system about the pile to no avail.

"Just as a courteous neighbor, you shouldn't be putting your trash out there," Williams said. "They start putting trash out Friday afternoons just hours after the weekly city pickup so it sits there for an entire week, breaking apart, blowing all over."