Youngstown council panel to mull closing street used as a dump site

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

City council referred a proposal to close off a North Side street that’s used as a dumping site to the planning commission.

As a matter of procedure, the commission will consider recommending closing Harvard Street between Clifton Street and Poplar Avenue before city council takes a vote.

“It’s been a popular site for dumping trash and shingles in particular,” said Councilman Nate Pinkard, D-3rd, who represents that part of the city. “It’s isolated so we get a lot of dumping there. By closing that section, we’ll set up barricades and vehicles won’t be able to get there.”

The deteriorated road doesn’t have any homes that front it, Pinkard said.

“We’ve spent a lot of money cleaning up the street,” he said. “Those resources could be used for other purposes.”

The city lately has cracked down on illegal dumping on isolated properties. In the past few weeks city street department crews have demolished 1568 Forest Glen Ave. on the East Side and the former Moose Club, 1007 Glenmont Ave. on the North Side – two structures that were filled with debris.