Mayor Cherelle L. Parker announces the One Philly, United Citywide Cleaning and Greening Program will launch on Monday, June 3. The Office of Clean and Green Initiatives in collaboration with various city departments along with quasi-governmental agencies and nonprofits, will employ a proactive and holistic strategy to address the many chronic quality of life issues related to litter, illegal dumping, graffiti, abandoned automobiles, vacant lots, and nuisance properties. The goal of the program is to clean every neighborhood in the City of Philadelphia over a 13-week period throughout the summer starting Monday, June 3 through August 26, 2024.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker will join Clean and Green Director Carlton Williams and multiple City officials on Wednesday, June 5, for a media showcase of this citywide block cleaning program, a critical next step in the mayors Clean and Green Program.
“My overarching goal for Philadelphia is a Safer, Cleaner and Greener City, with Access to Economic Opportunity for All,” Mayor Parker said. “Our Clean and Green Initiative, under Director Carlton Williams, is central to what we want to achieve for our residents. We’ve already begun cleaning neighborhood commercial corridors across the city, and now, Clean and Green will begin cleaning every residential block citywide. We’re going to deliver on our promise and end “Filthadelphia” once and for all.”
After the 13 weeks, individual crews will be assigned to each of the 10 Councilmanic Districts in the Residential Cleaning Program highlighted in Mayor Parker’s budget address. “This will be a massive effort to address multiple quality of life issues that impact neighborhoods across the city,” said Carlton Williams, Director of Clean and Green. “Multiple departments and supporting agencies will touch every neighborhood of the city by performing a quality-of-life service from illegal dumping remediation to graffiti removal. To lay the groundwork for the long-term cleaning program, crews will provide a detailed cleaning of the city, in every neighborhood.”
Full-Service Cleaning Plan
The One Philly, United Citywide Cleaning and Greening Program will be supported by more than a dozen government agencies:
- Office of Clean and Green Initiatives,
- Department of Sanitation Department,
- Office of the Mayor,
- Community Life Improvement Program,
- Commerce Department’s Taking Care of Business,
- Police Department’s Neighborhood Services Unit,
- Philadelphia Parks and Recreation,
- Philadelphia Water Department,
- Philadelphia Parking Authority,
- Licenses and Inspections,
- Department of Streets,
- SEPTA,
- Philadelphia School District,
- Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
The program will operate on a 13-week schedule. The plan utilizes the Department of Sanitation’s pre-established collection routes to implement a comprehensive cleaning strategy with collection services allowing for the cleaning of each neighborhood. Cleaning teams will work, in tandem, in each sanitation district until all neighborhoods are cleaned. Litter and trash are most visible on trash and recycling days. Cleaning teams will be assigned to a route and will be scheduled to work a day behind the areas trash and recycling collection day to maximize impact. The full-service cleaning plan has several components:
- Preliminary notification and information of street cleaning services will be provided to the community groups, residents, and the business associations within the targeted areas. ThePhiladelphia More Beautiful Committee (PMBC)will notify block captains and their neighbors. The city will advertise the program through local media markets. Brochures and other related information will be emailed to residents, notifying them of the date, time and services provided. In addition, the brochures will provide contact information for volunteer participation to “Join the Fight” against litter and illegal dumping atofficeofcleanandgreen.org.
- On the day following trash collection the Sanitation Department will immediately deploy cleaning teams made up of laborers, equipped with brooms, shovels, weed trimmers and air blowers to clean up the trash and clear fence and curb lines littered with trash. Once the hand cleaning is completed the Sanitation Department will deploy mechanical equipment including flushers and blowers to remove debris and clean the streets thoroughly.
- Staff will leave notices to residents that their blocks have been cleaned and offer additional information about prevention, beautification, and sustainability. All residents will be encouraged to keep their block clean and join the fight against litter and illegal dumping by participating in the City’s cleaning, greening and beautification programs that will be available on the Office of Clean and Green’s website.
- On the following day after neighborhood scheduled trash collection, SWEEP Officers will patrol the area giving warnings and citations for deliberate violations and offer additional information to address nuisance violations. SWEEP officers will also patrol the commercial business corridors to ensure that businesses are following streets department regulations specifically regarding dumpsters, litter free sidewalks and proper trash containers for takeout vendors. SWEEP Officers will patrol prior to trash collection.
- The Sanitation-led cleaning program will be coordinated with other City agencies to simultaneously address major quality of life issues and clean additional public spaces in each Sanitation district. This will include:
- Maintenance and repair of vacant lots and removal of graffiti by CLIP.
- Commercial corridor cleaning by the Commerce Department’s PHL Taking Care.
- Deep cleans of at least three neighborhood parks and rec centers by PPR.
- Cleaning and lawn maintenance at between 10-20 neighborhood schools by SDP of Business program; facilities teams.
- Inspection, cleaning, sealing, and enforcement of nuisance properties by L+I.
- Removal of unregistered and abandoned automobiles by PPA and PPD.
- Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) and inlet maintenance by PWD.
- Pothole paving by the Streets Department.
- Transit station cleanings by SEPTA.
Each agency will be charged with tracking data and capturing the work performed so the
city and partners can have a full view of the results of this effort. All of the above
initiatives will be mapped and visualized at.
