LYNN — The video is enough to make Jeff Carroll’s blood boil.
In it, a Toyota SUV roars up to his Boston Street Car Wash at night last week. A woman pops out and quickly dumps four giant trash bags before taking off.
“This kind of thing happens every day,” he said. “People see our vacuum cleaners and just dump their trash, it’s unbelievable and it’s getting worse.”
To combat the scofflaws, Carroll said he plans to add two more cameras and forward the videotape to the police.
“I will prosecute every single person who dumps,” he said. “If we catch a few people that should deter others.”
To make matters worse, he was fined $300 by the city’s Inspectional Services Department for violating the city’s trash ordinance, the maximum allowed by state law. It’s the third time he’s been fined this summer.
Clint Muche, the city’s deputy building commissioner, said the first two fines, which totaled $200, were issued last month for trash strewn about the property by motorists who clean out their cars.
“The staff does not seem to understand it’s their responsibility to clean up any mess made by customers,” he said.
The City Council has made beautifying the Boston Street corridor a priority. That stretch of gritty roadway from the car wash to Taco Bell has a reputation for its littered parking lots, sidewalks, and gutters.
Councilor-at-Large Brian LaPierre, Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi, Ward 5 Councilor Dianna Chakoutis, whose district includes the car wash, City Council President Darren Cyr, and the Licensing Committee are working with merchants who have agreed to hire a contractor to clean the area’s parking lots. The half dozen shops will split the $2,000 cost for the 16- week cleaning program.
The councilors asked the businesses to help solve the litter problem recently when McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, CVS Pharmacy, and Taco Bell appeared before the five-member panel to renew their license to operate late into the night.
Lozzi said he championed an ordinance four years ago which allows the city to fine an illegal dumper five times the cost to remove the trash up to $5,000.
“We should prosecute any violators to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.
Chakoutis said she will work with the inspection department to get the $300 fine erased.
“Jeff didn’t do anything wrong and he has the video to prove it,” she said. “Our goal is to keep the street clean and we will have signs made and post them that say, ‘Take Pride in Lynn.’”
