Sheboygan, WI Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Composting in Sheboygan is a permission with a behavior test, not a permit program. Section 102-4 says it is lawful to utilize grass, leaves, and garden waste for composting purposes in a manner which does not create a nuisance or is not offensive in smell or unsightly in appearance. The section names three materials, grass, leaves and garden waste, and sets three tests: nuisance, smell and appearance. It prints no bin size, setback, enclosure or registration requirement, and no officer is named in the section.

The neighboring rule explains why the permission matters. Section 102-3 makes it unlawful to burn out of doors or bury refuse or animal waste within the city, or to leave such in the open for more than 24 hours, 'except as specified in section 102-4.' The composting exception is the only carve-out that section cross-references.

Chapter 102 defines yard waste as leaves, grass clippings, yard and garden debris and brush, including clean woody vegetative material no greater than six inches in diameter, and excludes stumps, roots, or shrubs with intact root balls (§ 102-1). Yard waste must be recycled, and occupants of single-family and two- to four-unit residences can deposit grass and small branches at the resident dropoff site (§ 102-90(d)). A pile is therefore one of two routes for grass and leaves, the other being the dropoff site.

Composting also carries weight outside Chapter 102. The deer-feeding ban in § 18-13 does not apply to gardens, residue from lawns or gardens, and other vegetable materials maintained as a mulch or compost pile (§ 18-13(c)(1)). A pile that creates a nuisance, smells or looks unsightly falls outside the permission in § 102-4, and any condition permitted to exist in violation of the Code is a public nuisance the city can summarily abate (§ 1-12(c)).