Sunday, February 13, 2011

Why can't we dump this problem once and for all?

The problem with the community trash bins overflowing hasn't been resolved. Positively Palermo received this e-mail: "Penny, I'm tired of the talk talk talk about the garbage bins. It was said that the HOA and DRM resolved to fix this at its last meeting. But what has been done? Nothing it seems in my opinion. The bin on Sunburst on Sunday morning has bags of trash on the ground and to top it off, some egg shells on the ground. By tonight the trash area is going to be an even bigger mess. Could the HOA tack on a surcharge to the owners renting out their places on a seasonal basis because I think these people aren't using the household trash and recycling containers. What about the move-in, move-out fee also discussed here. Signed, Disgusted." Disgusted is right in concern over any inaction and for Palermo residents having to put up with this situation for so long. Thanks for the pictures. Miss Penny Lane says: She loves to do Dumptser diving to find discarded gems, but even she has no use for broken eggshells.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is so tiring why do we have to put up with this situation????

Anonymous said...

I guess we should blame seasonal renters for the lack of atmosphere on the Moon also? Seriously though, Palm Springs is a RESORT COMMUNITY. We need to deal with the fact that there are seasonal renters, as well as irresponsible full time renters. Obviously there are many full time residents using these dumpsters, otherwise they would not be complaining about them being full, right?

Owners who rent out on a seasonal basis should consider posting a sign on the door, instructing people to put trash and recycling out on the correct days, and we might want to also consider the possibility that 2 miniature dumpsters is not adequate for the community.

In the meantime, lets all stop whining so much.

Anonymous said...

The problem is NOT seasonal renters, as they do not produce a lot of trash. It is caused by full time residents moving in or out or getting rid of LARGE items. I have seen several persons moving out recently and watched them fill the dumpsters single-handedly.

Anonymous said...

I'm an owner but only there part time. I rarely use the dumpsters, however, if I'm leaving on a Wednesday for example, that means there's two days worth of trash that won't get picked up. Even so, that's maybe one small bag of trash. I hardly believe that's enough to overflow a dumpster.

Perhaps, like 4:46 suggests, we need bigger dumpsters or maybe an additional one (not sure where they'd put it though.) As far as renters moving out, is there some way to arrange with the garbage company to have them come pick up large items? Not sure if they do that. Just a thought.

Anonymous said...

Its not whining to be concerned about trash spilling out into the streets. The poster above must rent out seasonally.

Anonymous said...

Seasonal people do contribute because they use the main bins instead of the little brown ones but other causes also exist. Why not fine the owners renting out who also are causing it? I like the move in move out fee discussed else on Pen's site. One idea was to charge a surcharge to all owners who rent out and have more than 5 units.

Anonymous said...

If it is not possible to have more dumpsters, is it possible to have more frequent pickups of the trash in the dumpsters? Why is it only once or twice a week?

Anonymous said...

OK, from what I see on this blog there are 3 or 4 units here that are rented out on a short term basis. Even if they are filled with tenants all of the time (which they probably are not), these people could not be producing the amount of trash we are seeing here. Short term tenants do not throw away large TV boxes, old clothes, old dvds (as in the picture). This is clearly not due to short term tenants.

Anonymous said...

There are at least 7, but probably more and what is meant by "short term"? The weekly rentals don't use the bins, that's for sure. The monthly renters might be different. The really short term renter don't care about the rules and the full-time people (owners, renters) pay the price. Just who is leaving the beer bottles in the main pool area at night?

Anonymous said...

To the 2/15 post @ 8:51. The beer botels are left by people with no consideration of others. Unfortuantly all comunities have them. Just people getting drunk that don't really care. It is sad but true.

Anonymous said...

The egg shells are still on the ground. WHen will DRM take care of this mess?

Anonymous said...

@ 8:02, if it bothers you so much, grab a broom and dustpan and sweep it up. It will take about 2 minutes.

Anonymous said...

I rent my unit here seasonally and I would like to speak on the behalf of other short-term landlords. First, since I am renting a house that I myself live in part time, I screen renters very carefully. Since I bought the unit, I have only had 1 renter per month (excluding my own stays and a few days where my parents stayed for my Dad's birthday). I also clearly post the association rules inside the unit and on the rental agreement. I have found that short term renters are very conscientious of the rules inside the unit, and very clean. So far nothing I own has been broken or stolen. I cannot speak for what they are doing in the pool area, but it seems unlikely that they would act differently there.
Someone in a previous post argued that short term renters do not pay association fees. That may be true, but the owners of short term rentals do. Cutting out short term rentals will dramatically lower property values here, and quite possibly revenues for the HOA. Don't believe me? Lets look at some numbers: Long term rentals go for about $1200 per month here for the A units (at least that is what Village Property Management was charging if I remember right). That sets a floor on the value of an A unit at about $125,000. Why? Because after property taxes, HOA fees, repair costs, etc., the owner can make a 7% return on the property at that price. In the latest round of sales, prices were in the $165K - $200K range. Why? Because many of the buyers were planning to rent the units out short term, in which they can make enough money to justify paying those prices. So if you outlaw short term rentals, be prepared to see property values drop. It is also likely that there would be more vacant units for the same reason, and hence greater HOA fees for the remaining residents.
Lastly, imposing restrictions on rentals is legally dubious. The city of Venice revoked a law imposing a "30 day rule" after it was sued by a homeowner in a legal battle costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. Our HOA seemingly cannot afford to pick up eggshells. Can they afford a costly legal battle?

Anonymous said...

The above writes: "It is also likely that there would be more vacant units for the same reason." Wrong. Very wrong. There are virtually no empty units at Palermo. All except a couple are lived in or owned by second home owners. This is not a complex of empty for-sale units. Just the opposite. The above logic is pretty faulty on many levels. The 30-day rule is standard. Palm Desert is looking at a new law making it city-wide. The Venice example above dealt with different issues. The fact is that these under 30-day rentals are AGAINST the CCRs at Palermo and all who rent out below 30 days are breaking the rules. Nearly all of those breaking the rules aren't new buyers either. They are people who have been here a long time, paid too much, and now have turned to renting out in hotel-like fashion, and it is hurting the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

Dont' we have a maintenance person to do clean up of the eggshells/food on the concrete. Resident should not clean it up themselves as that is just co-dependent and enables management not to follow through on its job.

Anonymous said...

@2:11: Of course there are no empty units now, but there are a lot of short term renters. If that is taken away with the 30 day rule, there is going to be a much smaller pool of buyers because there are not many who want to rent out long term at a loss, so either we will have vacant units or the prices will come down to the $150K range for the A units. Simple supply and demand. Please explain what is wrong with that logic? And the Venice law was a 30 day limit targeted at short term rentals. Read about it in yesterday's Desert Sun article.