It’s Official: MilkBoy’s South Street Dumpster Is Perfectly Legal

MilkBoy’s controversial dumpster sits between two smaller trash containers on South Street. (Photo by Elizabeth Worthington)

Earlier, we told you of a kerfuffle that had erupted on South Street thanks to a dumpster sitting in front of the soon-to-open MilkBoy South Street, the only business we could find with a dumpster parked on the commercial corridor. MilkBoy partner Bill Hanson swore up and down that his dumpster was legal, while local business owners and residents complained that it wasn’t. And now the city has weighed in: The Milkboy South Street dumpster is 100 percent legit.

L&I spokesperson Karen Guss tells us that businesses can apply for a special permit that allows them to place a dumpster on a right-of-way, i.e. the sidewalk. L&I refers the matter to the Streets Department, which sends an inspector out to the location to see if a dumpster will present a problem.

According to Guss, all of those things occurred, and the Streets Department decided that it would be OK for MilkBoy South Street to stick its dumpster on the sidewalk. L&I issued the special permit.

“Now there are rules about maintaining the dumpster,” says Guss. “And if you are not doing a good job of that, Streets or L&I can and will issue violations. That could be in response to complaints from the public.”

As for the smaller trash receptacles that sit on either side of the dumpster, MilkBoy has indicated that those containers belonged to the previous business in that space, Lickety Split. Guss says that they would be considered abandoned property and that the Streets Department could remove them.

MilkBoy South Street plans to open shortly after July 4th, and we can only imagine that someone will be keeping an eye on their dumpsters.

This story has been updated to correct incorrect information provided by L&I.

Follow @VictorFiorillo on Twitter.