The EC should be able to deal with the matter regardless. For appearance and safety reasons and the fact that storage is a use of common property that should need approval. The EC can have policies on the matter too.
What we did: We told all owners and residents, both in writing and by a notice in the area, that the items would be removed and disposed of. We gave a few weeks advance notice. And then we paid for someone to do exactly that. There were no complaints and even if there had been, we felt confident that we had given everyone ample time to remove their items before they were disposed of.