In response to issues related to DowntownDC sidewalk and public space cleanliness, the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) recently undertook a special project to make sections of the BID area more livable and enjoyable for both of its two-legged and four-legged denizens.
D.C. law requires that all dog owners clean up after their pets or face fines ranging from $150-$2,000. But, with over 400 pets legally registered in the BID’s 138-block area, some Downtown property managers had recently expressed concerns to the BID about what they viewed to be a growing pet waste problem. As such, the BID’s Public Space Management team recently spearheaded a new program to assist residents with adhering to the law, which is an effort to prevent related environmental pollution, killing of grass and plants, transmission of some diseases and stop unnecessarily attracting vermin.
The BID identified 16 residential properties with the highest volume of pet ownership in Downtown and undertook a four-week project to personally distribute black clip on pet waste bag dispensers and bags to these select buildings.
[View an ArcGIS map of the properties here]
A total of 25 dispensers were distributed to each property, for a total of 400. Properties have provided positive feedback on the campaign.
Public Space staff, during these visits, took the opportunity to discuss the BID’s role with regard to public space, public safety and quality of life concerns. The BID’s red-uniformed Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance employees (SAMs) work daily to maintain the cleanliness of public space, removing trash and recycling, powerwashing sidewalks, removing graffiti and stickers and participating in beautification efforts. They also electronically log conditions such as sidewalk defects, damaged signal boxes and more, which are then transmitted to the Public Space Management staff who directly contact partners to help resolve the conditions.
Exactly 3,781 conditions have been resolved since the BID’s Quality Assurance Program was formed in 2011. Since then, the resolution rate has increased from 15 percent to 65 percent.
For more information on the BID’s pet waste bag dispensers or any other public space management program, email us at contact@downtowndc.org.