Boulder may relax its bear-safe trash law in response to a deluge of complaints that it’s too harsh.
In June, the city vowed it would no longer give warnings to any home or business west of Broadway and south of Sumac Avenue that failed to buy and then properly secure a bear-resistant container.
The city’s kept that promise by issuing 885 fines with a combined penalty of more than $250,000 through mid-December. Appeals have been filed for nearly 200 of those fines.
“We’ve learned a lot about what was troubling people,” City Attorney Tom Carr said. “Even though we want people to comply, we realize very much that the folks getting the tickets are paying our salaries.”
Violators are fined $250 the first time, $500 the second and $1,000 for every subsequent offense. For scale, even a first-time fine is ten times as steep as some city parking tickets, and running a red light carries a $40 penalty. With close to a quarter of people fined calling foul, Carr said the city is looking to adopt more of “a customer service approach to enforcement.”
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