"sf" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:33:28 -0400, "cybercat" >
> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
>>>
>>> "Charlotte L. Blackmer" > wrote in message
>>>>>> All well and good, but she wouldn't be pleased if someone decided to
>>>>>> steal from her. What I'm talking about is flat out stealing. If
>>>>>> someone wants to paint it with a different brush, that's their
>>>>>> problem.
>>>>>
>>>>>they're 'stealing' something *you've already thrown away*.
>>>>
>>>> *BING* *BING* *BING*
>>>>
>>>> and have placed on PUBLIC PROPERTY, i.e., the sidewalk/curb.
>>>>
>>>> Now if they take the recycling bin along with it ... THAT's stealing.
>>>
>>> Your opinion does not matter. Ask your town attorney what the law is.
>>Do you admire this kind of petty nitpicking semantics game? As though
>>there
>>are no stupid laws. I don't give a fat, selfish, smug suburbanite's ass
>>WHAT
>>the law is, it is utterly petty and miserably small and uncaring to
>>begrudge
>>the poor or needy your refuse. And yes you bet I am talking about YOU, sf.
>>If there is a law against them picking things up that are in containers
>>marked for disposal, it is a law designed to keep the riff raff out of the
>>fat ****ing smug suburban bitches' sight.
>>
>>Charlotte's point was not "what the law is." She is a bigger person than
>>that. She was talking about a caring, rational person's reasonable
>>definition of stealing, not that of a mindless penny ante bureaucracy
>>catering to fatass suburban twits who actually begrudge the needy their
>>castoff.
>>
>
> My sidewalk is public access on private property and I am responsible
> for the upkeep. I can be told by the city to replace or repair the
> sidewalk for whatever minute reason and I can be sued by John Q Public
> if someone slips or falls in front of my house. My sidewalk is NOT
> municipal property and nothing placed on it is put out for public
> consumption unless I have a sign on it stating otherwise.
>
>
"My sidewalk"? THE sidewalk in front of your property is NOT your property,
it is indeed municipal property, and as an adjacent property owner you need
to obey the laws pertaining to maintaining that sidewalk same as folks need
to obey the laws pertinent to littering, spitting, loitering, etc. on that
sidewalk... by choosing to own that property you have agreed to all the
pertinent municipal laws thereto.

As to trash collection, the collectors are instructed *not* to enter the
owner's property for reasons of liability, therefore property owners are
instructed to place trash for pick up on adjacent municipal property, ie.
curb/road shoulder (I seriously doubt you are permitted to place youir trash
in such a way that it impedes sidewalk traffic). As to folks (itinerent or
neighbors) rummaging trash placed out for pick up that is not stealing, it's
a no mans land issue that municipalities resolve by instructing both
property owners and trash collectors to arrange a time for trash to be put
out and a time for pick up that leaves the trash unattended for as short a
period as possible. Anyone rummaging trash can be charged for littering if
they leave a mess but they cannot be charged for theft for merely taking
*discarded* property (once property has been placed out for trash pick up it
is no longer anyones property until it is collected by those assigned to do
so, it comes under the municipal codes for abandoned property... anyone
doesn't like it is free to haul their trash directly to the town dump
themselves. In fact if ones trash somehow becomes litter, even if by
animals, and they don't clean it up the property owner may be charged.
There have been many cases where a property owner has placed
furniture/appliances at the curb for pick up and suddenly decided to
retrieve it for whatever reason, and upon finding someone taking the items
an altercation occurs. Courts typically rule in favor of those picking up
the discarded items (possession). Once you place your trash out for
collection if the homeless (or your next door neighbor) takes your trash (so
long as they don't litter, or loiter) there is not a thing you can do about
it... that comes under the doctrine of "Finders keepers losers weepers".
Now if one resides in a gated community the rules change, then trespass and
theft come into play, perhaps even burglary.