Bellport residents say their block is neighborhood 'dump' for pilot trash program

Some Bellport residents are raising a stink after village officials started a pilot program asking weekend residents to dump their household trash at a public works yard before they return home.

Neighbors of the Department of Public Works facility on First Street in the village say it's unfair to inconvenience them with additional traffic on summer Sunday afternoons. They say the trash drop-off should be relocated.

Mayor Maureen Veitch said the voluntary program started July 7 because trash left in refuse bins by many weekenders on Sunday afternoons would rot in hot weather for two days before regular trash pickup on Tuesday mornings. She said the village will evaluate the program when it ends on Sept. 8.

“It’s a growing number of people who are here for weekends and summers,” said Veitch, who estimated that 35% to 45% of the South Shore village's residents during the summer are weekenders. The village's population in 2020 was 2,200, according to U.S. Census figures. “People don’t come back till the next weekend, leaving that mess around.”

Trash can be left at the public works yard from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays, Veitch said.

About 10 people dropped off roughly 35 bags of trash on July 7, Veitch said, adding trash is stored in a bin that is sealed after each deposit.

At least 12 weekend residents thanked her for providing the trash drop-off, Veitch said.

Village law bars homeowners from putting trash at their curbs before the evening prior to scheduled trash collections. Half of village homes have Monday trash pickups, and half are on a Tuesday schedule, Veitch said, adding recycling is collected each Wednesday throughout the village.

Bellport issued about 20 violation notices last month to residents who put their garbage out too early, the mayor said, adding the village board is discussing a resolution that would impose fines for future violations.

Bellport resident Carlos Magill, who said he lives about 100 feet from the public works yard, said he and his neighbors are upset that village officials directed weekenders to their neighborhood rather than to dumpsters at the village marina less than a mile away.

“Perhaps the mayor had overemphasized the needs of the weekend residents,” Magill, 57, a New York City public school teacher, said. “The neighbors thought it was important to have a day of rest so we don’t have the smell of garbage … outside our homes."

Another resident, Karen Corsino, who lives a block from the public works site, called it "discriminatory to give the weekenders special privileges,” adding her block is "going to be known as the dump neighborhood.”

Veitch said adding more trash to the marina garbage bins would be "a terrible idea," because they are near a public beach.

She said other potential solutions, such as having all residential trash collected on Mondays, would be impractical. The public works department employs about eight people, many of whom are needed to perform other tasks on Mondays, she said, adding, “We would need to hire more people.” 

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.