City To Address Increase In Lawn Mattresses

Concerned residents Erie’s lower west side are expressing frustration at the growing number of discarded mattresses outside of neighborhood homes. “It’s disgusting.” said local resident Richard Colburn. “Some houses have up to 4 or 5 mattresses stacked up like thick, fetid pancakes on their front lawns. I also blame those Schultz guys with their constant mattress sales.”  Colburn went on to say that Code Enforcement has not responded to his numerous complaints. Gooferie contacted Andy Zimmerman, head of Erie Code Enforcement to see what he had to say about the matter. 

“Yeah, the mattresses.” Zimmerman said. “Always the mattresses. Quite frankly we’re tired of hearing about them. ” When asked how the city planned to deal with the numerous abandoned mattresses, Zimmerman told us that he had a plan in place. 

“We have a plan that is going to save the city a lot of work and money.” he stated. “We are enacting a new ordinance. In order to make these areas more appealing we are going to require that every resident of the lower west side have at least one old mattress placed in front of their home.

Zimmerman said that requiring every residence to put out a mattress will result in a “more uniform appearance which will make the street more pleasant and aesthetically pleasing.” Compliance with this new law must be in place by October 1st, 2020. Otherwise Zimmerman said “We will be forced to, I don’t know, maybe do something, I guess? Like issue a citation or whatever it is we do. Whatever it takes to finally put this issue to bed.”

When asked if there is any flexibility for homeowners Zimmerman responded “Oh certainly. We don’t want to spring this mattress ordinance on anyone. We’re  more than willing to work with citizens. If they cannot find a mattress we will also be accepting old sofas or recliners.”