City of Dallas looks to regulate donation drop boxes

DALLAS - Dallas City Council members are hoping to crack down on bad operators of donation drop boxes that don't have attendants. 

Images shown to Dallas City Council members illustrated that boxes intended to collect donations to do good instead are harming the neighborhoods they are there to help.

"They contribute to unsightly blight, illegal dumping. People leave prohibited items such as furniture, appliances and bulky trash," said code compliance asst. director Chauncy Williams.

He has identified 399 unattended donation boxes in Dallas, and the bad ones aren't just an eyesore. 

"Dallas Fire-Rescue has responded to two armed entrapments," he said.

But Williams says they are not all bad.

FOX 4 went to several of the 82 locations that had violations previously, and they were cleaned up on Wednesday.

The city is not looking to ban them, but to regulate them. 

Among the proposals is a $248 annual fee, limits on how many there can be on a given lot and require a label with a 24-hour contact number for the owner.

The Dallas City Council could adopt an ordinance to regulate the hundreds of boxes as soon as next week.