MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) – Community activists and thoseliving in Frayser are fired up and fed up with trash dumped and piled up near aFamily Dollar store.
Local 24 News was alerted to the illegal dumping in the alleybehind the store on North Watkins near Frayser Boulevard.
“Look at this. Why is this allowed to happen?” Barbara Buress said.
“Very frustrating, especially to the community – and then youhave young kids come from school and they have to walk through that mess,” CarlMcKennie added.
“I’ve heard several complaints,” said Memphis City Councilmember Michalyn Easter-Thomas, who represents Frayser.
Easter-Thomas said a meeting is planned with Family Dollar’smanagement to address the problem.
“It’s not just that one vendor issue – blight and justcleanliness is just an issue we have to deal with head on,” Easter-Thomas said.
But while there’s planned talk, the trash pile remains, just yardsfrom the Memphis Public Library’s Frayser branch and the Frayser CommunityDevelopment Corporation, where Steve Lockwood is executive director.
“We are making real progress in home ownership, housingvalues, and a lot of other angles, but you know rampant trash makes thatprogress more difficult,” Lockwood said.
Last year, we reported heath and trash-related properties at otherFamily Dollar properties in Memphis.
A store at the corner of Mount Moriah and Kirby was shut down bythe Shelby County Health Department last summer after a rodent infestation andfailed inspections.
That store and another Family Dollar on Ridgemont in Frayser wereon the environmental court docket after the store in Frayser showed at leasttwo violations of control of litter and garbage.
Local 24 News sent an email to Family Dollar corporate but didn’thear back.
In 2018, the Memphis City Council approved an 18-memberenvironmental enforcement team to crack down harder on illegal dumping andother code violations.