Evanston officials hope a new plan to fight litter downtown will keep streets cleaner this summer, but some businesses are worried the plan might not be enough.
The plan prepared by city staff and the EvMark, a nonprofit marketing group for downtown Evanston, places new requirements on downtown businesses. It calls for larger trash cans and a new Saturday trash collection provided by EvMark.
The proposal also recommends that businesses hire participants in the Summer Youth Employment Program to pick up garbage.
Complainants cite fast-food restaurants and increased foot traffic as the causes of extra litter in downtown Evanston.
EvMark Executive Director Diane Williams said the plan is, above all, a partnership between the city and businesses to make sure permit obligations get fulfilled. She said the changes should be implemented by summer, when trash in Evanston is the worst.
The city not only is worried that litter will deter business, but that it will be unsightly for an area blossoming with condominium towers.
“(The downtown) is also becoming a residential neighborhood,” Williams said. “Residents should be concerned, just as well as the business owners, that the neighborhood is clean.”
Downtown restaurants already are required to have a litter plan, but the city now will mandate them to post garbage policies where employees can see them.
“The reality is that the employees and management of those restaurants are responsible for ensuring that they conform with their own litter plan,” Williams said. “Part of this is about making sure (regulations) that are already in place are actually followed.”
More frequent trash pickups will be helpful, said Oscar Miramontes, general manager of Jimmy John’s, 824 Clark St. But employees already know about litter plans, so posting them won’t do much good.
He also said employees can’t stop all litter problems, like when people empty trash receptacles searching for food.
But Zeltee Edwards, superintendent of streets and sanitation, said that’s no excuse.
“It doesn’t really matter what people do to your stuff,” he said. “I don’t care if people go through it or the wind blows it around, it’s still your responsibility.”
Miramontes and managers at other local businesses said curbing the number of fast-food restaurants located downtown was essential to keeping litter under control.
Chris Molloy, who owns Alley Gallery, 1712 Sherman Ave., said even though his shop is located in an alley, he doesn’t think he has lost business because of litter. The city should watch the number of fast-food restaurants, because there ought to be a balance of businesses downtown.
Evanston’s dense downtown can only accommodate so much trash, said Jay Darshane, rush-hour manager of the Burger King at 1740 Orrington Ave.
Darshane said he was forced to put a lock on Burger King’s trash bin after other businesses were caught using it. If the city can’t control restaurants, he said, the plan won’t work.
“There’s too much garbage and not enough space,” he said. “The formula is not right.”
