A new staff report is recommending the City of Vancouver regulate clothing donation bins on private and city-owned land.
The report -- which is set to be presented to city council on May 28 by Kathryn Holm, the city's chief licence inspector -- calls for donation bin operators to obtain a business licence.
The licence conditions run from an annual $151 fee, to having an engineer confirm the bin is designed to stop unauthorized entry and will allow a person to exit without being harmed to having general liability insurance for up to $2 million.
"A regulatory framework will allow the city to regulate clothing donation bins on private property and city-owned lands, and to address the concerns related to public safety and untidy operations," the report noted.
It comes in the wake of a series of deaths involving donation bins.
Bins across Metro Vancouver were largely removed following the death of a 34-year-old man in West Vancouver who had become trapped in the bin's opening.
"If this was a toy or a product used by our general population, and not by our most vulnerable members of our society, this would have been recalled at the first injury or death," said Nicole Mucci, a spokesperson for the Union Gospel Mission, back in January.
The shuttering of the bins led to one charity facing a financial crisis.
Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver said they forecasted a $500,000 loss after pulling all 180 of its bins across the Lower Mainland.
"It's a huge impact for our mentoring program," Mandy Wong previously told CTV News.
The report recommends approving their recommendation and instructing the city's director of legal service to bring forward the amendments for the bylaw.
