Springfield officials concerned over trash outside city store

SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) — Local leaders in Springfield concerned over littering and trash piling up at a Dollar Tree store in the city’s East Forest Park neighborhood and thousands of dollars in fines owed the city.

Springfield Ward 7 City Councilor Tim Allen said the city council was finally able to get in touch with Dollar Tree corporate a few weeks back after years of issues with trash in their parking lot. in fact, we found video going back eight years with trash-related issues with the store located at the corner of Island Pond Road and Allen Street.

Allen said that the store has had issues with litter since they opened their doors more than a decade ago. He said, about a month ago, the council held a meeting with Dollar Tree to address the issue and he told Western Mass News that Dollar Tree promised to hold their store accountable for keeping the lot clean. City councilors plan to meet again Thursday to see how things are going so far. “It’s better definitely better they said they would hold their managers accountable for the parking lots and stuff. It’s better, it’s not perfect, but it’s a lot better,” he explained.

Western Mass News stopped by the East Forest Park location on Wednesday and it did look relatively clean compared to previous years. However, Allen told us the chain has racked up at least $8,000 worth of fines, which they are also working on getting payment for. He said those fines will be addressed in Thursday’s meeting.

Western Mass News has reached out to Dollar Tree for comment, but have not yet heard back.

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