Fort Worth suburb to crack down on donation bins that lack proper permits, mayor says
City officials were looking for solutions on how to regulate donation bins for clothing and other items that are on parking lots and outside of businesses.
Some of the bins were overrun with piles of furniture, clothing and other items, and there were complaints that they were unsightly.
Now, the city of Bedford is cracking down, requiring property owners who have donation bins outside of businesses or in parking lots to get permits from the city if they want to continue allowing them on their property.
Mayor Michael Boyter said the proliferation of donation bins was getting out of hand, and the city had to take action.
“It just became a bigger and bigger nuisance,” he said.
Boyter said there were concerns that banning the donation bins could lead to a court challenge because the information on donation bins falls under the First Amendment and is considered free speech.
“Our city attorney found precedence in the courts that say you can’t eliminate them (donation bins),” he said.
Starting in mid-March, Bedford will start issuing fines of up to $2,000 if the donation boxes don’t have the necessary permits.
According to information from the city’s neighborhood services department, Bedford has over 40 donation bins with some located on vacant lots. Sixty percent belong to for profit organizations while 40 percent are for nonprofits.
Development director Bill Syblon said that some commercial property owners are out of state and did not know that bins were on their parking lots or vacant lots.
Under Bedford’s new guidelines, only nonprofits are allowed to have bins on commercial property, and the property owners must have permits with information including proof of tax-exempt status, contact information for the organization and plans showing where the bins will be located on the property.
There are requirements for maintaining and emptying the bins, and they must be 50 feet from homes and 200 feet from other bins. The permits are renewed once a year.
So far, 6Stones is the only nonprofit that submitted a permit to have a bin on its property, Syblon said. 6Stones offers assistance to low-income residents with food, clothing, home repairs and other services.
Boyter said that Bedford is not trying to disparage organizations that want to use donation bins.
“We just don’t want this clutter (unattended donation bins) around our town,” Boyter said.
This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 12:34 PM.