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Couple Tired Of Talking Trash

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By KENNETH KNIGHT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2008

TAMPA PALMS - Warren Dixon III and his wife, Andrea Braboy-Dixon, love the serene pond behind their home in the Manchester subdivision but not the trash that washes up on its banks.

They have filled trash bags with litter pulled from the pond. They have taken photos of discarded paper products, Styrofoam cartons, plastic bottles and containers, softballs and other sporting equipment to show how bad the situation has gotten.

They worry that animals, such as raccoons, that roam the area are attracted to overstuffed garbage cans left at curbside. The animals will often flip over the bins to get at the items inside, scattering trash.

"One of the reasons trash bothers me so much is animals don't know any better," Braboy-Dixon said.

"They will stick their heads in bottles. Turtles will try to eat plastic bags."

People's bad habits are harming animals, defacing one of the area's premier residential developments and sending litter from streets and city parks through the city stormwater system and into neighborhood ponds, Dixon said.

"The problem is people driving down Tampa Palms Boulevard," he said. "They toss trash out of their windows. It's going to get worse if they build the New Tampa Boulevard bridge and if the county proceeds with its plans to widen Bruce B. Downs Boulevard."

Braboy-Dixon said she doesn't believe her neighbors are the main culprits because she sees the pride they take in caring for their properties.

"What you have are people who don't live here throwing trash and it ends up in the ponds," she said.

"I don't claim to know everybody," Braboy-Dixon said of her neighbors. "I walk or jog every day. You get a feel for what people will and won't do."

Litter is not isolated to Tampa Palms Boulevard. Trash strewn along streets and public areas is on the rise all over Tampa Palms, community leaders said.

Maggie Wilson, a consultant to the Tampa Palms Community Development District, briefed the district supervisors about the problem at their Sept. 10 meeting.

"It's an annoying problem," Wilson said in an interview. "Pedestrians are extraordinarily aware of this problem."

The district has a contract with One Source Landscape and Golf Services to care for CDD-maintained property. One Source has a staff in Tampa Palms five days a week picking up litter in the common areas, which covers parks, as well as streets, sidewalks and medians along the major thoroughfares.

"Seventeen men and women pick up trash every day," Wilson said. "They get bags of it."

She said the CDD staff is in discussions with city officials about stepping up enforcement of Tampa's littering ordinance.

"We know they have their hands full already," Wilson said, referring to the Tampa Police Department.

But the district can do little else, she said, because Tampa Palms' main thoroughfares are public roads.

The trash issue also was addressed in the Tampa Palms Owners Association's September newsletter.

Litter was considered by 94 percent of residents to be a major environmental problem, yet people were still littering, according to the published report. Residents were urged to be aware of related problems associated with littering, including tarnishing the community's image, attracting more litter and threatening public health by attracting rodents.

Bill Edwards, president of the owners association, said he sees the trash problem as a function of the community's traffic patterns.

"Our main roads are used as cut-throughs," Edwards said.

Like the Dixons, Edwards suspects motorists are mostly responsible for the litter. He hopes they aren't residents.

Braboy-Dixon said the trash problem is an unfortunate result of growth in New Tampa and southern Pasco County.

"As you get more people, you get more trash thrown out," she said.

Braboy-Dixon said she fears the litter problem during hurricane season could clog the city's stormwater drainage system and lead to flooding.

Wilson said she doesn't anticipate the problem escalating to that level.

Reporter Kenneth Knight can be reached at (813) 865-4842 or kknight@tampatrib.com.

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