Saw these two back in April, same old same old. Cant teach people to close the lid to quit attracting gulls, raccoons and rats
This one I saw someone from the do-no-wrong Grove Market emptying garbage and walked away leaving it open.
And down the street at P.G. Juice N Java – yep. A gull’s buffet.
What can we do? Let’s build the kids a playhouse to hide the trash in. What do they do? Yep, leave it open.
Dumpster Update: They Built A Covered Shed To Keep Animals Out
1. Forget about enforcing covered dumpster rules and gulls come back.
2. Birds of prey don’t help the situation
On Wednesday, the Pacific Grove City Council will discuss bringing back the program to control gulls. With an additional $30,000 in city funding, the proposal will aim to kickstart the effort once again.
“It is prudent to get back on the program,” said Ben Harvey, the Pacific Grove city manager. “You have to do this year in and year out, otherwise the birds just come back.”
Harvey was hesitant to label the gulls as a problem, “We are a coastal community and this is their habitat,” he said. The real problem, he said, is that they skew away from natural behavior. “They are no longer hunting for food, but they are scavenging for garbage.”
Harvey sees the one time the trash is covered. Here are three other time I passed by the mentioned location. He’s also bothered by the squawks and cries of the gulls, but not the smell of the open garbage next to his part time residence?
City Manager Ben Harvey, clad in a baby blue sweater over a white button-up shirt, strolls down 16th Street with a cup of coffee in hand. It’s early afternoon, and while there are still no gulls around, Harvey stops between Fandango Restaurant and Grove Market, and turns to face a dumpster area.
“This is what I am talking about,” Harvey says, visibly annoyed, yet composed.
Harvey takes a few steps toward a nearly empty parking lot in front of the restaurant, and points to a big, black dumpster with its lid shut. The container stands next to a small trash can filled with a tied-up garbage bag.
In addition to using predatory birds to scare off gulls, part of the program would also include stepping up enforcement of dumpster lid closures.
Open dumpsters are acknowledged as a problem.
Mark Brodeur, with the city, says the gulls are all but gone. Brodeur, the city’s community and economic development director, came up with the idea to bring the falconer in after seeing the tactic work in San Antonio, where he was working. He says there is a noticeable difference now in downtown, where seagulls had become a nuisance
Brodeur said there are still three spots in town where the seagulls are frequently being seen. He said all of the three spots are homes to open dumpsters. Brodeur said they have asked the businesses with the dumpsters to close them and expects this will solve the problem.
Never did see the hawks out flying. I think having bird expert walking the streets with a falcon distracted people from noticing all the gull poop. After all, the real problem remains unchecked.
A sense of urgency to get seagulls to fly the coop. In recent years, they’ve become a nuisance and health hazard to the people who live, work and visit the area.
“The poop everywhere doesn’t make the town look very attractive to shoppers,” local business owner Janneke Rowland-Wolken said.
“You don’t want to be nasty towards the seagulls, they are part of our small little town here. But you do want to treat the problem and I think it’s a nice and environmentally friendly way,” Rowland-Wolken said.
Monday was orientation day for the birds. Once they get comfortable with the environment, they’ll be out flying around Thursday or Friday of this week. But that’s not the end of Mardin’s work. She’ll probably be back this summer when tourism picks up and more people are dining outside when gulls are there for the free food.
All this over gulls while a major contributor goes unchecked.
Business property owners have until Feb. 20 to remove the birds’ nests on their buildings or face fines and penalties.
To help make sure owners are in compliance, the city plans to send drones to record video footage of business district rooftops in a search for nests.
The drone-and-raptor plan was the brainchild of economic development director Mark Brodeur, who also happens to be in charge of vector control.
“Sea gulls are essentially flying rats,” he says.
(City Councilman Rudy Fischer) said the city has already dealt with the “easy food” that tempts gulls by modifying downtown garbage cans.
“The gulls are getting aggressive at restaurants and pooping everywhere,” Fischer said.
Restaurants are attracting the gulls by not following health department rules. They need to be penalized with fines and made to pay for the cleanups.
One can take a walk and see the local businesses that have no respect for the town they operate in:
Mandos:
Mandos
P.G. Juice N Java:
Classic Catering: 
Fandango:
Pacific Grove To Unleash Birds Of Prey And Drones To Spy On Rooftops
From this:
To This:
Still got some human modifications to do there, like empty the cans more often.
“Those cans are working to perfection,” said Moe Ammar, president of the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce. One can is on the corner across from his office at Central and Forest avenues. Ammar said he hasn’t seen a gull diving into it.
Residents and employees in the area also notice fewer gull contributions to their windshields and tops of their vehicles, he said.
It’s not a complete solution, Ammar said. There are still private dumpsters where hungry gulls forage, and, “We still have people who think it’s cute to feed the sea gulls.”
The custom-lid cans, so far, have been placed on Central Avenue near the city entrance, along the Recreation Trail, and by the library, museum and post office.
Gulls need lots of food to produce the bird poo they leave.
Atop the noodle house
Sidewalk N/E Corner Lighthouse and Forest
Thanks to fine businesses downtown the gulls get free access to yummy sustenance.
Juice & Java never fails to leave the garbage open
And Nader Agha’s Holman Building welcomes the birds too. Is that an antique clock in there?
Remember to wash your hands after visiting
Check the KSBW video – the news reporter is at the same place I was recently. Add that to the shocking turn from trying to shoo the gulls away to cutting off the attraction by covering the trash around town, something that lighthouseavenue.com has been preaching for years.
Was Moe heard describing the trash can covers as “the best thing ever to happen in P.G.”?
The city’s public works department is experimenting with a new type of trash can to see if it can perturb the influx of gulls.
“Without a doubt, it is working. The seagulls cannot penetrate it and go down and pick up the food,” said Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce president Moe Ammar.
The city is looking to retrofit all trash cans on the recreational trail with the new can style to get rid of gulls, but officials said residents also need to stop feeding the birds.
City officials said without an active food source, the gulls will hopefully go elsewhere.
The city is planning to power-wash the sidewalks the first two weeks of June. The runoff water will be collected and sent to the local pollution control agency.
Well all that talk was just talk, the businesses in P.G. are just about back to the old habits.
This week we once again have the oh so special Fandangos leaving the trash wide open to the gulls:
And the Sea Breeze Motel & Cottages continues to spit in the face of the town.
