Lenexa, KS Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Article 2-11-G of the Lenexa City Code covers compost material. Section 2-11-G-1 applies to any person producing compost material within the corporate limits of the City. That person must provide sufficient and adequate containers for storing the material, in adequate number to serve each dwelling unit or establishment, and must keep those containers in good repair at all times. The storage area must be maintained in a clean, neat and sanitary condition and screened from view by an enclosure, fence, screen or other suitable means as set forth in Title 4 of the Code.

Section 2-11-G-2 handles location. Residential compost material containers are stored upon the residential premises, and commercial containers are stored upon private property unless the owner has been granted written permission from the City to use public property. No person can place or store any container in front of the building setback line or existing building line upon real property or public rights-of-way in a residential area, except on the day of collection or up to twenty-four (24) hours before a designated pickup time.

The Unified Development Code adds a backyard standard in its residential outdoor storage rules. Residential compost must be stored in a container manufactured or constructed so as to contain all materials and permit turning to aerate the materials. The container and contents must be stored in the rear yard and screened from the view of adjacent properties at ground level, and must be maintained in a neat and sanitary condition and be free of odor. Open piles do not meet that standard, and neither does a container placed in the front yard.

Separate from composting, curbside yard waste is a hauler service under Section 2-11-F-1, and the Code repealed its former compost disposal and collection sections (2-11-G-3 and Article 2-11-H) effective January 1, 2012. The Code also prohibits accumulating yard waste in residential outdoor storage.