Alpharetta, GA Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Residential distance limit
- 100 feet max from street right-of-way
- Right-of-way storage
- Prohibited except city-authorized set-out
- Cart provided
- 95-gallon plastic rollaway cart per unit
- Cart damage
- Resident reimburses city for replacement
- Commercial placement
- Near street, accessible to collection trucks
- Enforcement
- Citation by police on written affidavit
Summary
In the City of Alpharetta, residential garbage containers cannot sit in a street or alley right-of-way and cannot be kept more than 100 feet from that right-of-way, except when the city or its contractor authorizes curbside placement for pickup. Commercial and industrial containers must stay on the premises near the street where collection trucks can reach them.
(a)Residential premises. With respect to residential premises, no garbage containers or other containers for refuse, other than those of the city, shall be placed, kept, stored or located within the right-of-way of a street or alley or at a distance exceeding 100 feet from the street right-of-way; provided, however, that the city or its contractor may authorize the location of such containers within the public right-of-way at specified places and times when such location is necessary for the expeditious collection and disposition of garbage by the city.(b)Commercial and industrial premises. With respect to commercial and industrial premises, containers shall be kept on the premises at a place near the street, readily accessible to collection vehicles, or as otherwise provided by the city or its contractor.
Full Breakdown
City Code § 38-13 splits the placement rule by property type. Residential premises may not store garbage or refuse containers, other than the city's own, within a street or alley right-of-way, nor farther than 100 feet from that right-of-way; the city or its contractor can authorize temporary placement in the right-of-way at set times for expeditious collection, which is how curbside set-out for pickup day is permitted. Commercial and industrial premises instead must keep containers on-site at a place near the street, readily accessible to collection vehicles, or as the city or its contractor otherwise directs.
Under § 38-10, each residential unit is issued a 95-gallon plastic rollaway cart that owners and lessees must keep clean, neat and sanitary; a lost, destroyed or damaged cart is replaced at the resident's cost, not the city's. Recycling collection bins under § 38-11 carry the same clean-condition and replacement-cost duty. Community Development's code enforcement staff and the Public Works department administer these rules alongside the city's solid waste contractor, and collection itself runs at least once weekly from private residences under § 38-8.
Violations & Fines
Keeping garbage outside an approved container, or letting waste become offensive and noisome on the premises, is declared a public nuisance under § 38-14 that the city may abate. Section 38-15 allows the Alpharetta Police Department to issue a citation once a citizen's written affidavit documents the violation, with conviction punished under the general penalty schedule in section 1-8. A resident who loses or damages a city-issued rollaway cart must reimburse the replacement cost under § 38-10(a).
Frequently Asked Questions
How far from the street can I keep my garbage cart in Alpharetta?
What kind of cart does the city provide?
Are business dumpsters subject to the same 100-foot rule?
What happens if trash piles up and becomes a nuisance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Alpharetta
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Bin Placement Rules in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Fulton County handle bin placement rules.