SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) – It’s a problem across the Bay Area but there’s a new effort to crack down on illegal dumping in the South Bay.
Ditching an old couch alongside the road in San Jose could soon cost more than a new one. The fine for illegal dumping right now is $2,500 for a first offense and $5,000 for a second.
Hoping to convince the city council to increase the fine four-fold to $10,000 for a first offense is San Jose planning commission vice chair, Rolando Bonilla.
There are as many as 160 dumping hotspots around the city. a new reporting app and illegal dumping patrols were making progress before the pandemic but the problem is worse now with new hotspots turning up every day.
These are photos of the Alum Rock Village Action Committee cleaning up illegal dumping on their own. Residents are fed up, says organizer Jesse Haro.
Bonilla says the dumpers are getting more brazen. He says much of the trash in and around homeless camps is actually the result of illegal dumping.
Last fall the city along with the railroad spent $300,000 to clean up a huge illegal dumpsite on Monterey Road. It’s time to get tough, says Bonilla.