DAYTON — The City of Dayton Public Works Department plans to inspect reported sites of illegal dumping and property fires after residents raised safety concerns regarding recurring trash accumulation and vacant structures.
Neighborhood residents report that illegal dumping has persisted in local alleyways despite previous city cleanup efforts a few years ago.
Community members say the lack of monitoring and enforcement has allowed dumping and scavenging to continue, increasing safety hazards near residential homes.
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Miesha Russell, who lives near one of the dumping sites, works night shifts and regularly observes activity around the debris piles. While she does not see individuals dumping items, she frequently sees people sifting through the remaining material.
“When I leave for work, you can see people are back there taking stuff, not really adding, but definitely taking from whatever’s back there,” Russell said.
Russell expressed safety concerns for neighborhood children who live near the dumping sites, noting that the ongoing scavenging has made conditions worse.
“It’s just not safe, so I think that they should definitely come and, like, look at it or clean it up or something, but it’s gotten worse since people are just going through it,” Russell said.
Lynn LaMance, a local community member, reported that trash accumulation in a nearby alleyway has accompanied wider safety issues, including fires at vacant properties and an influx of unauthorized individuals.
“There is an influx of homeless and addicts in the area in this particular alley back here,” LaMance said.
LaMance noted that community members rarely receive updates regarding law enforcement actions or citations against violators, leading to ongoing dumping.
“We never get substantiated information if they’re seeing people dump,” LaMance said. “Are they being prosecuted? So the dumping just happens over and over again.”
To prevent further property fires and illegal dumping, LaMance suggested that the city take direct structural action, including installing security cameras, promptly boarding up vacant buildings, or demolishing abandoned structures.
“Boarding them up in a prompt manner,” LaMance said. “The demolition obviously is great. You know, if there’s no house there, they can’t break in, they can’t catch it on fire.”
The City of Dayton announced that Public Works personnel will visit the reported fire and dumping locations to inspect the sites and determine potential corrective actions.
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