For the Miceli family on Blewett Avenue, whose home sits right behind Lincoln Avenue, this is just another typical day. On the left side of the residence, only a fence stands between the Micelis' backyard and several large trash containers designated for use by Starbucks and Pizza My Heart.

Denise Miceli says that every day she goes through the ritual of hearing the employees from the businesses wheel their garbage across the parking lot, open the trash bins, bang the lids against her fence, slam down the lids and then noisily wheel the containers back across the bumpy parking lot. One time, a trash bin's lid struck their fence so hard that a section of lattice was broken off; it still needs to be repaired.

"We can't even sit in our house and relax," Denise says.

She believes these businesses have no respect for her property. She has attempted to talk to employees at the businesses to cut down on the noise and overflowing trash, but no progress has been made. She said she has spoken with the property manager, Steve Mascovich, about Starbucks and Pizza My Heart and asked Mascovich to notify the businesses' employees about the noise problem. But she has seen no significant changes.

Denise and Louie Miceli say it has become so bad, they wished they could move, but their home has been in the family since the 1920s.

The Mascovich family manages the property where Pizza My Heart and Starbucks is located and the portion of the parking lot behind the businesses where the trash receptacles sit. Steve Mascovich has spoken to the Micelis and other nearby neighbors about the trash bin issue, but Mascovich says the problem actually lies with the nearby Chinese fast-food business, Mr. Chau's.

Apparently, Mr. Chau's has been dumping its trash into Mascovich's trash bins, without his permission, which Mascovich believes causes the overflow of garbage. And he claims that nearby residents are also contributing to the debris in the trash bins by using them to dispose of ice chests, dirty diapers, motor oil and other trash.

Yet Mascovich also admits that because of the high employee turnover at the two food businesses, new employees are not always informed about the ongoing problem.

Mascovich says he's called Mr. Chau's on Lincoln Avenue four or five times and asked who the property owner is, but he was hung up on in many of those instances.

The Willow Glen Resident tried to locate the property owner, who according to the Santa Clara County Assessor's Office records is Van Chhung, but was unable to obtain contact information to reach him for comment.

Mascovich only had an address. And the owner hasn't responded to his letters. Now, Mascovich is thinking about contacting a lawyer to take action.

A couple weeks ago, the Micelis also contacted District 6 Councilman Ken Yeager's office for assistance. Denise Miceli says that they were very responsive to her complaints. Hours after she sent the office an email, Denise noticed people outside the trash bins, cleaning up the debris. But she says that was only a temporary fix and a permanent solution needs to be found.

Mascovich says he has no other spot to put his trash receptacles. The Micelis obviously have no other place to live, so the family will now have to wait and see if the city will continue to consistently address this problem and if all three food businesses can be more agreeable to their requests.