Fairfax County officials are pressing pause on a sweeping proposal to revamp residential trash collection, opting to delay a public hearing amid mounting confusion, pushback and competing narratives about what the changes could mean for homeowners and small haulers alike.
At a meeting last week, the Board of Supervisors agreed to postpone a public hearing on the topic that was scheduled for October. A new date hasn鈥檛 been set.
was first to report the decision.
Under current practices, most residents and homeowner associations handle the logistics of trash collection themselves. The county, meanwhile, handles the process for about 10% of residential customers, according to county data.
But the county was considering a plan that would divide single-family neighborhoods into Unified Sanitation Districts. The county would oversee the process and handle negotiating prices on residents鈥� behalfs.
鈥淚f you live in a single-family, detached home in a traditional suburban neighborhood in Fairfax County, and you don鈥檛 have a homeowners association contracting for you, then you鈥檙e on your own,鈥� Supervisor Walter Alcorn said. 鈥淭o me, it鈥檚 the Wild West out there for folks in that situation.鈥�
Christopher Herrington, director of the county鈥檚 Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, previously told 小萝莉影视 that a change would help ensure prices are fair and consistent, and that there aren鈥檛 many companies operating within the same neighborhood.
鈥淔or these residents, what we basically have is a retail market for trash collection and recycling collection, and those customers are paying retail prices,鈥� Alcorn said.
Under state law, counties can oversee trash collection once Unified Sanitation Districts are created, and they鈥檙e required to give private companies five years notice.
“Most people have no idea that we鈥檙e talking about something that could happen five years or more from now. They think it鈥檚 like next week,鈥� Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said.
McKay said the county needs to take time 鈥渢o clarify some of these things with the public a little bit better.鈥�
Under the proposal, private-sector contractors working with the county directly would pick up residents鈥� trash. Herrington previously said the proposal didn鈥檛 explore decisions about what service would be provided and how often.
Meanwhile, Larry Foster, one of the owners of Evergreen Disposal, said the board鈥檚 decision to hold off on considering the change 鈥渙pens the door for meaningful collaboration, and we鈥檙e committed to ensuring future policies prioritize what residents really deserve 鈥� affordable, dependable service with the freedom to choose.鈥�
Foster said if the county handled the logistics of trash pickup, 鈥渋t would put a lot of the small haulers out of business.鈥�
鈥淚f someone鈥檚 not happy with their current hauler, they could switch based on service, based on price, a lot of variables that would not be available in the USD,鈥� Foster said.
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