The Campbell Reporter

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Beer bottles, litter strewn on properties at Home Depot

By Cathy Weselby

Campbell resident Travis West is fed up with the shabby condition of Home Depot's parking lot.

West walked down the sidewalk on the western side of the parking lot last month and saw beer bottles and debris strewn along a 5-foot-long sewage pipe.

"It looked crappy," said West, who lives on Central Avenue. West thinks the trash problem is due to an increase in day-laborers gathering around the Home Depot lot.

He contacted Campbell City Councilman Evan Low, who put him in touch with Susan Morgado-Gray, Campbell's code enforcement officer. Morgado-Gray told West the litter has been an ongoing problem, and that she'd look into it and notify Home Depot.

"When these large retailers move in, they promise to maintain their landscaping and remove litter, but they're not holding up their end of the bargain," West said.

Phillip Adleson, an attorney who owns the building at 577 Salmar Ave. between Home Depot and Staples, shares West's concerns about day laborers. "They throw trash in the bushes, and they camp out in our parking lot," Adleson said.

One of Adleson's tenants, the Public Health Department, asked the firm to cut a path through the fence to Staples so female employees wouldn't have to walk the sidewalk and be subjected to the catcalls from the day laborers.

"Home Depot is the magnet, and as far as I can tell, and they haven't done enough to mitigate the problem," Adleson said. "They need to be more proactive."

Adleson's firm has been at that location since 1995, and he said that the police have cited people when they've been drinking or committing other crimes, but that hasn't eliminated the problem.

"There ought to be a way for people to find work without hurting businesses," Adleson said.

Ric Paul, owner of Wheel Away Cycle Center, has been at his Hamilton Avenue location for 40 years. He said that the situation seems to have gotten worse in the past year.

"It's a nuisance. I find beer cans, beer bottles, cigarette wrappers, lotto cards and empty noodle cups in my parking lot and in the bushes," Paul said. "Home Depot should do something; they've created the problem."

Paul said the day laborers mostly congregate on the step between his store and the Rotten Robbie gas station and tend to stay on the sidewalk.

It's not only the day laborers who create the problem, Paul said, but also the people who hire them. He said contractors driving cement trucks have pulled into his parking lot and blocked access for his customers.

"We merchants haven't banded together yet, but we might if things don't change soon," Paul said.

Police Capt. Dave Dehaan acknowledges it's been an ongoing problem for six years and that the department has a long history of discussions with Home Depot.

"There are a variety of issues, and we're working to find a long-term solution," Dehaan said. "You have to take into account the freedom of speech and freedom of assembly for the people who are looking for work."

However, he added, "Business owners are telling us that it's having a real impact on their business and that their customers are saying they'll go elsewhere."

Because the parking lots are privately owned, the police have been encouraging business owners to post signs on their properties restricting unauthorized vehicles, and to call the police when problems or crimes arise.

On March 5, Morgado-Gray sent a Notice of Compliance letter to Home Depot's corporate office. The letter described the conditions in and around the property, citing urinating and defecating in the landscaping, entrances partially blocked, catcalls and sexual innuendo directed at females, illegal drug and alcohol use, graffiti, overflowing trash cans and trespassing on surrounding businesses and residences.

Home Depot public relations manager Kathryn Gallagher said in an e-mail that Home Depot hired an outside agency to clean the parking lot a couple of years ago and recently increased the service from twice a week to once a day.

According to police, Home Depot has a representative who specializes in day laborer issues and plans to meet with the city on this issue.

"One of the questions the city needs to decide is, do we want to keep day laborers localized to just the Home Depot property, or do we want day laborers excluded from private property in the city of Campbell?" Dehaan said.

In April a study session is planned with city council members to review the situation.