Fontana, CA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Rodent control runs through two chapters of the Municipal Code. Chapter 24 (Solid Waste and Recycling) removes what rodents eat, and Chapter 18 (Nuisances) declares the places they live to be public nuisances.

Section 24-13 opens by naming insects and rodents as carriers of pathogens in unsanitary, unattended or exposed solid waste. It then bars any person from removing material from a solid waste receptacle, including organic waste and recyclable materials containers, with or without the occupant's or owner's permission. Wet refuse must go into the designated containers in a manner that creates no nuisance, odors or vector breeding. Dead animals, human waste, infectious, hazardous, toxic and dangerous wastes stay out of the containers used for ordinary trash, and crankcase oils, solvents and wet paints must be stored and transported under all applicable federal, state and local codes.

Section 24-12 backs this up with container rules. Solid waste must sit in a container with a close-fitting cover that stays closed except while it is being filled or emptied, and the property owner keeps the storage area clean and sanitary. Household waste leaves the premises at least once each seven-day period. Hotels, restaurants, boardinghouses and other businesses that accumulate garbage get removal at least twice each seven days, and the city manager can require more collections when the customer's current frequency creates an unhealthful, unsightly or public nuisance condition. Containers go to the curb no earlier than 24 hours before the scheduled pickup and come off it within 12 hours after. Section 24-14(a) adds that every customer must keep receptacles clean, sanitary and unbroken.

Section 18-2(d) lists the conditions that are public nuisances when an owner, lessee or occupant allows them. Two name rodents directly: a building or structure that is a breeding place for rodents or vermin, in (d)(6)b, and overgrown vegetation likely to harbor rats or vermin, in (d)(7)i.2. Paragraph (d)(7)o separately reaches vegetation that obstructs drivers' views or the right-of-way or is likely to harbor rodents or vermin. Related items include offal and animal excrement that attract insects in (d)(7)e, and trash cans stored in front or side yards where a public street shows them in (d)(7)n. Under 18-2(e), anything built or maintained in violation of the Code is itself a public nuisance.