VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach Public Works Waste Management crews are working overtime to pick up yard debris on neighborhood streets. Tropical storm Isaias left piles of sticks, pinecones, and leaves.
“Pinecones, the pinecones were ridiculous. There are probably two big bags of pinecones,” explained Dolly Sturgis.
Virginia Beach crews will pick up yard waste if it's on the side of the street and people follow the rules. People can place up to 25 clear bags filled with leaves and grass on the street. Each bag cannot weigh more than 25 pounds.
As for limbs, crews will only pick up two piles at a time and each pile cannot be larger than 4ft x 4ft x 4ft.
Sturgis said, “I made sure I stood there to make sure I didn’t have it any taller than 4 feet. I’m 5’5". I do try to make sure it’s easy for them once they come through, they shouldn’t have any trouble picking it up.”
Virginia Beach recycling coordinator Kristi Rines said crews are working six to seven days a week to keep up with the demand. She said if your pile is too big, crews won’t pick it up. Rines said if your pile doesn’t follow regulations, a city worker could give you the notice to remove it.
She said, “The thing most residents need to keep in mind too is that this is manually collected. It’s collected by hand with pitchforks.”
Rines said crews are doing the best they can, and it could take some time for them to make their way to your neighborhood.
“Patience is very important right now, lots of grace and allowing our crews to get that material. It’s going to come on a delay. Right now, we are probably looking at about two weeks to make a full pass through the entire city.”
She said people can always drop off their yard waste at the Landfill Resource Recovery Center or Landstown Transfer Station.