Fourth Ave. shop owners taking trash into their own hands

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — During the final week of 2024, Fourth Avenue's trash cans were overflowing.

“Each bin was stuffed full, and [trash] was rolling down the street," said Dee Dee Koenen. "There was a lot of food waste, of course, and it had been sitting out.”

Koenen is one of the co-owners of Popcycle and an organizer with the Historic Fourth Avenue Coalition, which is an organization of "neighborhoods and stakeholders dedicated to preserving the cultural identity of 4th Avenue and community gathering."

For eight days, those trash cans stayed full, store owners say without any prior warning, until Popcyle owners took matters into their own gloved hands.

“It was building up and getting pretty nasty," Koenen said. "So, Libby and I got gloves and we went out there and started shoving those things into another bag.”

For 25 years, trash pickup along Fourth Avenue has been handled by the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association, or FAMA, a non-profit "dedicated to the growth and development of the businesses and communities in the Historic Fourth Avenue Business District."

FAMA says this stop was to give their staff a break for the holidays, but rising costs have made it unsustainable for them to continue trash pick up in the new year, which they've told shop owners and landlords.

A representative told KGUN 9 in part in a statement: “While we are proud we've played a role in maintaining a clean and welcoming environment, this service has never been a part of our non-profit's core mission (To provide programs, events and marketing to promote arts, culture and community for the 4th Avenue district).”

FAMA resumed service January 2nd, but the lapse gave shop owners like Koenen a glimpse into the uncertain future of trash services along Fourth Avenue.

To get ahead of possible pile-ups and catch any remaining trash from the overflowing bins, the Popcycle owners and Fourth Avenue Coalition are hosting a cleanup of the neighborhood January 11 at 10 a.m., supported by other owners along the street.

“If our mission is to get people to be comfortable and come to Fourth avenue and feel like it's a positive thing to do, we have to keep it clean somehow," Hall said. "And by 'we,' I mean 'we' everybody."

Though he did add that it isn't a fair long-term solution to have shop owners in charge of public trash cans that they don't actually use.

If you're interested in joining the clean-up, Fourth Avenue Coalition has details on their Facebook Page.