Novi, MI Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Novi City Code Sec. 21-169 carves compost out of the city's general nuisance restrictions on maintaining rubbish and waste piles, provided the pile follows the composting-specific rules in the section. What can go in is generous: yard and garden waste like weeds, branches, bark, grass clippings, stalks, brush and vines, plus wood ashes, horse manure, coffee grounds, vegetable scraps, citrus rinds, fruit peelings, and egg, peanut and nut shells. What is barred is just as specific: meats, dairy products, vegetable oils, cooked foods, and plastics, synthetics or other non-biodegradable materials cannot go into the pile at all.

Location matters too. No compost pile can sit inside a drainage easement anywhere in the city, and within platted subdivisions a pile cannot go in the side yard or closer than six feet to any property line. Size is capped inside platted subdivisions specifically: a pile cannot exceed four feet by eight feet, or six feet in diameter if round, and cannot exceed four feet in height, though residents can run double piles side by side as long as the combined footprint still respects those limits.

The section also requires ongoing maintenance to keep offensive odors from drifting onto neighboring property, so a poorly managed pile that starts to smell is itself a compliance problem separate from the size and content rules.