New York State Urban Council
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Question from Corning's Gaffer District: Corning’s Gaffer District is looking for best practices from business districts that have found a way to maintain dumpster/trash can access for local businesses without compromising the aesthetic appeal of their rear entrances.
Ithaca Downtown Partnership:
We have a shared trash compactor program here in downtown Ithaca. Many of the restaurants use it, particularly the ones on the Commons without rear space. It is not without its challenges, but effectively eliminates many individual dumpsters. It is a private program but on public property and hence overseen by the City. – Gary Ferguson, Executive Director The Gaffer District’s Preservation and Design organization, Market Street Restoration Agency, designed “Dumpster Bins” in the early-1990’s which were designed to improve the aesthetic appeal of the refuse areas behind the buildings. For owners that were willing/could afford to build the bin (Baron Steuben Building), they were built to accommodate dumpsters, but could also be reduced in scale to accommodate garbage containers. Because it can be costly to build even a modest enclosure and foundation (since merchant’s would prefer to make investments that affect their façade or their sales), we also developed a second approach which was less expensive to undertake: we matched paint colors with the brick of each building, and worked with the trash haulers to have the dumpsters painted to blend in with the adjacent building. My experience was that the haulers were willing to paint dumpsters as we requested, but it was harder to get them repainted regularly unless there was continued communication. I believe that there is paint color schedule in the files and a drawing for the construction of the bins exists in the flat files at the Gaffer District. The City of Corning would need to approve the construction of any dumpster bins since it is technically on city property. - Elise Johnson-Schmidt, AIA
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