City holds public hearing on trash-cart rules and new ordinance; action postponed to April 8

The College Park City Council held a public hearing April 1 on ordinance 25-O-01, a proposal to amend city code provisions concerning housing regulation (chapter 125-10), refuse and recycling container placement (chapter 141-6) and fees and penalties (chapter 110). City staff and the city attorney said the hearing would be held but the council would not take final action until April 8 in order to keep the record open after a public-notice inconsistency.

Tony Coker, director of public services, explained the procedural approach and said staff recommended leaving the record open for one week to allow additional public comment and to correct an earlier notice that mentioned both April 1 and April 8.

Councilmember Rigg (identified on the record) urged residents to focus comments on the core proposal, which he described as "very, very, very, very narrow": limiting storage of beer-pong tables and the use of city property as supports for such tables, rather than changing where trash or recycling carts ("toters") may be kept. "The purpose of this ordinance was and is to limit the storage of beer pong tables in the front yard of residences in the city of College Park," Rigg said. Several speakers and residents told council they were concerned the draft ordinance would change long-standing code language about cart placement, but staff and the city attorney clarified the existing code already directs that carts be stored at the rear or side of properties.

City Attorney Stephanie Anderson confirmed the hearing was being held but no final action would be taken April 1; the council formally left the record open and scheduled action for the April 8 meeting. Coker said typical enforcement is complaint-driven and staff treats many instances as quality-of-life matters; he said the proposed ordinance as drafted is intended to address a narrow nuisance issue and not to change the longstanding cart-location language.

Why it matters: Several residents expressed confusion and concern that the draft ordinance might change long-standing requirements for where refuse and recycling carts are stored. City staff and council members said the code language about cart placement predates the draft and is not substantively altered by the ordinance, but they kept the public record open so the city can clarify language and accept additional comments before final action.

Next steps: The council left the public record open and will consider the ordinance as an action item at the April 8 council meeting. Staff asked residents to submit comments to the city email provided in the meeting.