Red Car Canyon: Who Is Trying To Make Dumping Look Like A Homeless Camp?

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 29, 2015.  Last week, someone moved the blue tarp full of weeds into the bushes to make it look like we have a homeless camp in Red Car Canyon.  How do we know?  We've been documented the hell out of this pile since it was dumped in the canyon last summer.  (Click on photos to enlarge & use the links in this post to earlier documentation.)

The pile of old lumber, concrete and brush bound up in a blue tarp was dumped in Red Car Canyon last August, documented here and reported to the property owner's rep and City Council office (CD13) then, and monthly since.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 29, 2015.  If you don't walk the property on a regular basis, you wouldn't recognize the tarp full of weeds that the developer didn't even bother to have picked up during brush clearance last year.  Rumors then circulate that there's a homeless problem on the property.  No, there's a pile a crap that the property owner refuses to pick up.

Who benefits from these rumors?  Developers, who prey on the fear of homeowners.  "See, you need new development to keep the homeless out." How about, "You need to take responsibility for your property."  Your "broken windows" are only attracting graffiti, dumping and disrespect for the neighborhood. 

Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, March 10, 2015.  The weeds had grown up over the piles, including the scrap wood that one Riverside Place neighbor has been hauling away one piece at a time as she walks her dog.  (Thanks for being a good neighbor!)  The same neighbor flipped the tarp full of weeds over to let the rainwater drain out. 

The second arrow in the above photo shows the pile of dry bamboo and brush dumped at the same time last summer.  It's still there and still dry.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 4, 2015.  This one was on the blog.  By then, weeds had grown through the broken glass tabletop dumped in November. 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 10, 2015.  The big pile of dry bamboo and weeds will be extra dry this summer if it doesn't get picked up soon.  Brush clearance is supposed to be done by May 1.  (It's not so green anymore.)

Frankly we'd rather post photos of butterflies, hawks and wildflowers than have to focus on dumping.  While it does become a part of the landscape and you do really have to think about it when someone asks if the pile of dumping is still in the canyon.  After 7 months, it's time to haul it away.

*UPDATE 5-27-15: The blue tarp full of weeds got picked up on Sunday May 24, 2015.  The pile of dry brush and the pile of scrap wood, concrete and some of the glass is still there.