Dallas Looks to Crack Down on Overflowing Donation Boxes

Donation boxes in Dallas parking lots that sometimes overflow into a trashy mess may soon get regulation or even get banned.

The Dallas City Council Quality of Life Committee Monday discussed the options and asked city staff to return to them with a plan to put regulations in place by the end of the year in time to take effect early next year.

Donated stuff was piled up outside one box on Fort Worth Avenue near Westmoreland Road in Oak Cliff was a possible treasure to resident Lisa Johnson.

She sorted through the stuff Monday hoping to find gems before someone else did.

“It will be picked up in a couple hours. Somebody will come and get it,” she said.

Dallas City Council members see the overflow as a nuisance.

Councilman Chad West who represents that section of Fort Worth Avenue is pushing new regulations.

“There are just complaints literally every week about clothes thrown on the ground, items blowing out into the street,” West said.

The committee briefing Monday said Arlington, Frisco, Houston and San Antonio are other Texas cities that regulate the boxes, but Dallas has no rules.

Dallas officials count 160 of the boxes around the city, but there’s no way to be sure how many there are because Dallas has no registration requirement.

So, when there is a mess to be cleaned up, Dallas has no way to contact owners except for numbers that might be on the box. And then there is no penalty for failing to clean things up

“We want development. The key to development is clean and safe,” said Councilman Casey Thomas.

He supports restrictions but does not want to unfairly punish good non-profits that act responsibly.

Regulation could include fines or could limit the boxes to city-owned parking lots for better oversight.

Or they could be banned to save the city expense of registration and enforcement.

“It's a hard call but I think the easiest thing to do is just speak in terms of dollars and cents, and the good sense would be just to remove them,” Councilmember Carolyn King Arnold said.

West wants to try regulation first before a ban.

“I think some of my neighbors would support the outright ban but I’m a little bit cautious when you have good operators,” West said.

Lisa Johnson said the city officials should try life on the street before they complain about the nuisance.

“Live out here for a week or two, a year. See if they like the mess then,” Johnson said.

She will have more time to visit the collection boxes because it will be next year before any new Dallas collection box restrictions are in place.