The City should review early pickup boundaries and hours of pickup and delivery, from time to time to accommodate changing land use patterns. This report seeks to address noise issues related to the commercial collection of refuse in the Downtown. The intent of the expanded hours for the downtown area is to facilitate access for the bulk collection trucks during times of the day when lane-ways and loading areas are less congested. The current boundaries of Schedule C were originally set in part to exclude areas where residences would be adversely affected. There has been considerable redevelopment within the 'downtown area' since the boundaries were originally set.
Complaints regarding noisy refuse collection in residential areas are quite common.
With the increase in residential use in the 'downtown area' Council could choose to alter the current boundaries or remove the 'downtown' designation completely. Complete removal of the 'downtown' designation is unnecessary because a major portion of Schedule C still has very little or no residential component at this time. Discussions with the Waste Management Industry indicate that they make use of the extra hours quite extensively and would be severely affected by their removal. This, in turn, would impact on the timely and efficient removal of garbage from the downtown area and add to existing day-time congestion in the downtown lanes. A number of residents in the area have expressed concerns over hours of refuse collection.