Before moving ahead with plans to relocate the Sisson Street ‘Dump’ to Falls Road, Mayor Brandon Scott wants to study the idea and make sure the city’s current plan is the best one.
On Wednesday at City Hall, Scott announced that he is forming a Sisson Street Task Force to recommend the best way for the city to handle bulk trash and hazardous waste disposal if the Department of Public Works closes the Sisson Street Sanitation Yard and Citizen Drop-Off Center at 2840 and 2842 Sisson Street, a city-owned property known by many as ‘The Dump.’
City officials disclosed on Aug. 11 that they have been working on a plan to move the facility to 2801 Falls Road, where the Potts and Callahan construction company has a storage yard that it would lease to the city.
Under the city’s plan, the Sisson Street parcel would be sold to a private company for commercial development once a new drop-off center is open. Seawall Development, the likely buyer, has proposed building a grocery store-anchored commercial center on the property.
Even though many people refer to the Sisson Street facility as ‘the dump,’ officials note that it’s not technically the same as the Quarantine Road landfill in south Baltimore, where trash remains after it’s brought in. The Sisson Street operation is a transfer station, officials say, because the bulk trash items taken there are transferred to other locations every day.
Still, the plan has drawn opposition from a number of individuals and organization leaders who note that the Potts and Callahan property is in a floodplain and less than 150 feet from the Jones Falls waterway. They say it would be wrong to use the land as a transfer station because trash could end up washing into the Jones Falls and Baltimore’s harbor. Others say it would potentially ruin a picturesque stretch of the Jones Falls Valley and hurt businesses there, especially if part of Falls Road is closed to vehicular traffic.
Scott said he has heard the community’s concerns.
“We’ve had conversations with residents about the future of the Sisson Street transfer station for some time now,” he said. “We’ve done community engagement on this project and we’ve heard feedback from residents who are invested in the future of that site. Through this process we’ve heard a range of opinions of what should happen to the site. So to solidify a clear recommendation from these stakeholders, I’m creating a Sisson Street Task Force, which will include City Council members, neighbor associations and, obviously, representatives of city government. Together, they will consider all options for the future of the transfer station, including keeping it where it is, moving it or simply closing it.”
Scott didn’t say who would lead his task force. His announcement comes as the Hampden Community Council is planning a community meeting on the topic on Sept. 4 starting at 6 p.m. at the Roosevelt Recreation Center, 1221 W. 36th St. Besides representatives from the Mayor’s Office, speakers at the Hampden meeting will include City Council member Odette Ramos and a representative from Friends of the Jones Falls, a group that opposes using the Potts and Callahan property as a transfer station.
On Aug. 18, City Council Bill No. 25-0094 was introduced to allow the city to sell the Sisson Street land for redevelopment and was assigned to the council’s Land Use and Transportation Committee for a public hearing. Scott previously has indicated that he doesn’t want to close the Sisson Street facility for redevelopment until a new one opens to replace it. Others have argued that the city doesn’t need to replace the Sisson Street facility because it has other drop-off centers, including the Bowleys Lane Residential Recycling Drop-Off Center at 6101 Bowleys Lane and the Northwest Transfer Station at 5030 Reisterstown Road.
Wednesday’s announcement was the first time since he became mayor that Scott has publicly indicated he would consider closing the Sisson Street facility and not replacing it. He said he would like to receive the task force’s recommendations by December.
