Livonia, MI Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

245 sets Livonia's rules for permitted residential composting. Contents must be biodegradable material recognized as acceptable by composting authorities such as the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Southeastern Oakland County Resource Recovery Authority, the Department of Environmental Quality, or the Michigan State University Extension Service, and the section specifically bars meat, bones, fish, dairy products, vegetable or animal fats, cooked foods, carnivorous animal manure, plastics, synthetics, or other non-biodegradable material. Compost bins or piles cannot sit within any drainage or utility easement, and location is restricted to rear yards only, never a front yard or side yard including a corner side yard, with a minimum three-foot setback from any lot line and a 25-foot setback from any dwelling on an adjacent property.

Size is capped at three feet by three feet in area and three feet in height, and each parcel is limited to a maximum of three bins or piles. Composting must be maintained so it doesn't produce offensive, unwholesome, or nauseous odor reaching adjacent property and doesn't attract or shelter rodents, and adequate screening is required to shield the bins or piles from the view of adjoining residential properties. Composting is limited to private use on the lot owned or occupied by the person maintaining the bins or piles; it can't be run as a commercial operation or serve other properties.