GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Bill Peterson watched in disappointment Wednesday as more than a dozen workers representing the city of Grand Rapids loaded piles of trash — rusted chairs, broken heaters, old umbrellas — strewn across his backyard into a garbage truck.
Peterson operates a trash hauling and recycling business out of his home at 639 Cherry St. SE, but he’s been fighting with the city about the practice for decades.
City officials say he’s violating city rules by operating his business in a residential area and that the trash that’s accumulated in his backyard is a nuisance.
The conflict came to a head Wednesday morning, Dec. 11. City police, code compliance officers and contractors executed a search and seizure warrant at Peterson’s home and began hauling away mounds of Peterson’s trash.
“All this stuff that could be recycled is going to be wasted,” said Peterson, 69. “I’m in fear that all of the stuff that I’ve been trying to keep out of the landfill is instead going to go in the landfill.”
In a statement, city spokesperson Steve Guitar said, “We have tried to work with the property owners to resolve this issue.” “We regret that the matter has reached this point,” he said.
Peterson and the city have been fighting about his trash hauling business, known as “Trailer Trash,” for years. The dispute has resulted in a string of code violations, landed him in court and earned him a brief jail sentence. A city file kept on his Cherry Street home shows his first violation is dated May 13, 2003.
For his business, Peterson unloads the garbage in his backyard and, using a magnet attached to his belt with a piece of twine, searches through the rubble for pieces of aluminum, steel and copper he can recycle. He says his business doesn’t turn a profit and is almost akin to a hobby nowadays. Some of the trash has been in Peterson’s yard for years, while other items have arrived in recent weeks or months.
One of Peterson’s latest code violations was issued by the city on May 29. It set an Aug. 27 deadline for him to cease business operations and clean up his property. Peterson says he’s attempted to contact city officials and resolve the issue but has been unsuccessful.
“I’m appalled that the city of Grand Rapids can do something like this when I’ve been trying to communicate with the city manager since May, I’ve been trying to communicate with the city attorney since May,” he said.
Guitar wasn’t immediately sure how much Peterson would be charged for the work done Wednesday to clean up his property.
Moving forward, Peterson, who survives on Social Security, said his goal is to draw attention to his fight with city officials. He would like to see the city change its policies and let him continue to collect and sort trash in his backyard.
“There are a lot of people that are on my side,” he said. “I have not been able to get them organized, and I think this will probably organize them.”
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December 12, 2019 at 04:35AM
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City forcibly cleans up Grand Rapids trash collector’s yard - MLive.com
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