SAN DIEGO — What’s bugging residents of Mission Beach these days? Flies! They seem to be everywhere and huge piles of trash are making a bad situation worse.
“It smells bad. It's unhygienic. I'm pretty sure there are actual health risks to having exposed trash for so long and having flies everywhere all the time,” said a Mission Beach resident named Fit.
Flies are usually an issue in Pacific Beach and Mission Beach during the summer, especially in areas with short term vacation rentals. Tenants pile up the trash when they leave, overflowing cans. The trash sits there for days, creating a breeding ground for flies. One female can lay over 1,000 eggs in garbage that’s been out for two weeks.
Fit has reported overflowing trash from a neighbor's short term vacation rental to city officials through the Get it Done app. He showed us the report he filed, which said “Missed pick-up, overflowing trash, disgusting and unhygienic.” The post shows it was submitted five days ago, but the trash pile he reported was still there Tuesday, covered with flies.
“We just need the city to take the trash out more,” Fit said.
In years past, environmental services has helped to control the fly infestation by providing beach residents in popular STVR areas with a second trash pick-up in the summer, but they're not doing it this year.
City officials sent News 8 a statement saying, “The City continues to provide weekly trash collection to residences in the area and is committed to keeping neighborhoods clean from litter and trash. A second weekly collection was not budgeted this year.”
They added, “To report any instances of overflowing trash cans or dumpsters, the public can make a request through the city's Get it Done app, or by calling Environmental Services at (858) 694-7000 or emailing to trash@sandiego.gov."
“They're not getting it done,” said a frustrated Fit, mocking the app’s name.
He’s not the only one disappointed by the city’s lack of action. Neighbors are taking matters into their own hands by putting out fly strips, fly traps, and even fly-eating plants.
Environmental services did empty the black trash cans Tuesday in Mission Beach, but not the blue, recycling ones, leaving pizza boxes and other trash as a fly breeding ground for another week.