The ‘garbage wars’ are over. But there’s another trash fight in St. Paul.

The end of St. Paul’s “garbage wars” has led to a new fight in the West Seventh neighborhood.

Tensions are flaring over the city’s chosen trash hauler’s plan to use a site behind the former Schmidt Brewery in St. Paul as a central hub for its garbage trucks.

Some residents say the hauler’s proposal, and the truck traffic that will come with it, betrays the neighborhood’s hopes for a less-industrial future for the riverfront.

But the hauler has already purchased the property, and the construction will be key to getting trash service up and running this spring, the company says.

About 25 people protested Thursday, bundled up and holding signs against the wind whipping down W. 7th Street, with slogans including “Homes not Trucks” and “Don’t trash West 7th!”

“I’d rather see something else that brings this community together as a positive influence, said protester Nicole Helgeson. The garbage truck refueling station ”just doesn’t make sense to me."

Garbage service and the infrastructure to support it isn’t anything new to most cities, but St. Paul is not most cities.

St. Paul’s trash collection service was, until recently, the purview of contractors who make deals with residents — not a centralized city service.

The city’s so-called “garbage wars” ended in 2024, after years of disputes over whether garbage collection should be a centralized city service.

In the end, hauler FCC Environmental Services won the contract to serve almost all of St. Paul, with the city itself picking up a small slice, in the hardest-to-reach alleys.

FCC bought a parcel at 560 Randolph Av. last summer to use as a depot for an estimated 30 garbage trucks that will run on compressed natural gas, and a refueling station.

“Despite FCC’s off-market purchase and plans for expansion, the site has been historically earmarked for mixed-use, housing, and transit-oriented development,” a statement from the local district council read.

The company said in an emailed statement their plans comply with city rules and will improve the site from its current condition.

“Our improvements will bring a fresh, revitalized look to the site and create a positive impact for the community,” the statement read.

The parcel sits amid a patchwork of no-frills concrete and corrugated metal buildings that hold businesses including a tow truck operator and a fence company. A railroad track cuts through the area, leading to a looming grain elevator just off the river.

It feels separate from the restaurants and vintage shops of W. 7th Street, but neighbors had hoped the industrial land could one day be an extension of the neighborhood.

A decade ago, the aspirational “area plan” created by the neighborhood and approved by the City Council called for “major housing development” at industrial corners like the Randolph Avenue site. The plan saw building apartments in those plots as a way to add homes to the neighborhood, while calling for zoning changes elsewhere meant to block apartment construction.

The plan also hoped for more connection with the riverfront, though Shepherd Road now blocks most access.

Unlike other neighborhood plans, including the former Ford Plant site and the West Side Flats, said West Seventh/Fort Road Federation Executive Director Julia McColley, this area was not re-zoned to line up with those plans,

“The city dropped the ball, and never re-zoned properly to make these plans come to life.”