QUESTION: We’ve noticed some of our neighbors place their solid waste or recycle carts at the curb early the morning before a collection day, while others don’t remove their emptied cart(s) from the street until a day or two after the collection day. What are the allowed procedures Springs residents are to follow for the proper use and storage of these carts?
ANSWER: There are actually two sources that address the proper storage of solid waste and recycle carts. As provided below, one is our HOA’s CCR Article XVI, Garbage and Refuse Disposal, and the other is the Stone Oak POA guidance for the carts, published following the award of the solid waste and recycle services contract by the POA to Allied/Republic Waste for gated Stone Oak communities. Because the service company requests residents have their solid waste (“trash”) and recycle carts at the curb on pick-up days by 7:00am, Springs at Stone Oak residents are allowed to place their carts at the curb the evening before the scheduled pick-up day, and returned to their storage location not “visible from any street. . .before the following day,” per the Stone Oak POA policy. That policy is also included in our website’s “Information for New (and “Old”) Neighbors in the Springs,” available on the Our Info and the Pages & Links tabs.
The frequent violation citations for improperly stored solid waste and recycle carts normally reflect the resident either placing their cart(s) at the curb well ahead of the evening before the scheduled pick-up day or by not returning their cart(s) to a storage place not visible from any street by the end of the scheduled collection day.
ARTICLE XVI
GARBAGE AND REFUSE DISPOSAL
No Lot shall be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish. Trash, garbage and other waste shall be kept in sanitary containers, whether arranged for alley pickup or street pickup. No trash, ashes or other refuse may be thrown or dumped on any vacant Lot, park, street, Right of Way, or drainage area in the Properties. No cans, bags, containers or receptacles for storing or disposal of trash, garbage, refuse, rubble, or debris shall be stored, kept, placed or maintained on any Lot where visible from any street except solely on a day designated for removal of garbage and rubbish and on which days only such cans, bags, containers, and receptacles may be placed in front of a residence and beside a street for removal but shall be removed from view before the following day.
STONE OAK RESIDENTIAL GARBAGE AND RECYCLE PROGRAM
“The hours of collection are between 7:00am and 6:00pm on Tuesdays (recycle) and on Tuesdays and Fridays (solid waste). Please do not place solid waste or recycle carts out for collection any earlier than the night before a collection day and return them by the end of the collection day to inside your garage or other area where the carts cannot be observed from the street. “
These CCR topics intend to remind residents of The Springs of the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CCR’s) that apply to all Springs residents solely by our election to live in this community. The purpose of the CCR’s is to maintain specific standards for the good of us all, as articulated in their definition:
“THE SPRINGS AT STONE OAK is encumbered by these Restrictive Covenants for the following reasons: to seek to achieve the best and highest use and most appropriate development of the property; to protect lot owners against improper use of surrounding lots; to preserve so far as practical the natural beauty of the property; to guard against the erection of poorly designed or proportioned structures of improper or unsuitable materials; to encourage and secure the erection of attractive improvements on each lot with appropriate locations; and to secure and maintain proper setbacks from streets and adequate free space.”
If you are a Springs resident who has misplaced your copy of the CCR’s, or are a new resident who wasn’t provided a copy by the previous owners or your realtor, you can view (and download in Adobe Reader [.pdf] format) the complete Springs CCR’s and By-Laws at the Consolidated Bylaws and CCRs section of this website, located in the Pages & Links tab.
