Haltom City, TX Property Maintenance: Trash Bin Storage (2026)

Haltom City treats visible trash carts as a property maintenance concern that affects neighborhood appearance and property values. Under the Haltom City Code of Ordinances, solid waste and recycling carts must be stored behind the front building line of the residence. Acceptable locations include inside a garage or carport, in the side yard behind a privacy fence, or in the rear yard out of sight from the street. Carts on open driveways, in the front yard, on the front porch, or parked against the front of the house are property maintenance violations when left in those locations between collection days. Carts may be placed at the curb only for collection, with set-out permitted no earlier than the evening before the scheduled day and removal required within 24 hours after pickup. Commercial dumpsters serving restaurants, apartments, retail, or mixed-use buildings must be enclosed on at least three sides by a solid masonry or wood screen fence at least 6 feet tall, with a view-obscuring gate on the fourth side. Dumpster enclosures must be constructed on a concrete pad to contain leaks and spills, and the pad must drain into the sanitary sewer or a private grease or sediment trap rather than the storm sewer. Dumpsters must be serviced frequently enough to prevent overflow, flies, odors, and rodent attraction. Junk cars, unlicensed or inoperable motor vehicles, and large collections of stored materials in the yard are separately regulated under the Haltom City junked vehicle and nuisance chapters and are not lawful substitutes for trash carts. Violations can result in a courtesy notice, a written abatement notice with a 10-day cure period, and then citation issuance carrying fines up to 500 dollars per day per violation. The International Property Maintenance Code as adopted by Haltom City further bars accumulation of refuse that harbors rodents or insects.