Appellate Division Rules that Municipality Need Only Provide Curbside Trash Collection for Apartment Complex
Dear Mayor:
An important decision was issued by the Appellate Division yesterday in the case of Berk-Cohen Associates at Rustic Village,LLC v Town of Clayton on the limits of the obligation of a municipality to pick up (or pay for) the collection of trash in an apartment complex.
In this case the town offered the apartment complex the same service as offered to other residents, i.e., curbside collection in standard containers (fixed by ordinance) on a weekly basis. The apartments rejected that option as inconvenient and unsanitary and sued to collect reimbursement for its contract for dumpster collection.
The Appellate Division ruled in favor of the Town and held that offering the apartments the same form and frequency of trash collection provided to other residential properties was all that was required of the municipality. Therefore, Clayton did not have to make payments to the apartments that rejected that service.
If you have any questions or concerns about this communication, please contact Deborah M. Kole, staff attorney, at the League, ex. 137, or at dkole@njslom.com
