City of Menlo Park sets guidelines for fallen leaf removal
Along with the environmental and social benefits of the City of Menlo Park’s expansive tree canopy comes the winter task of removing all the fallen leaves.
Every residential and commercial street in the City is swept on a regular schedule. The peak of leaf removal season is from November through February, when all of the streets are swept once per week.
Residents can help the process by not parking on the street during their street sweeping day. The street sweeping day is generally the next business day after trash collection.
Leaves that do not fit in the green compost cart can be spread into a row on the street. The edge of the row should be about 12 inches from the gutter and no higher than 12 inches tall.
To ensure a clean street, do not create leaf piles or place sticks and branches in the street. Leaf piles, sticks and branches cannot be removed by the street sweeper, requiring the operator to stop and sort the debris, delaying leaf removal.
More information about the street sweeping schedule can be found on the City’s street sweeping page.
Originally appeared in Menlo Park Updates; used with permission
Photo by Linda Hubbard (c) 2017
Dana Hendrickson December 10, 2017 at 6:06 pm
I spoke to a street sweeper driver this past week and he said his truck was not capable of picking up large piles of leaves left in the street. I watched him try several times in from of my home and the equipment simply pushed the leaves back onto the sidewalk. He also said the city use to hire more powerful sweepers that did work well.
He asked that I NOT pile my leaves in the street and report the problem to the city.
Now I am uncertain what to do!