Dunwoody, GA Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Section 27-231 of the zoning ordinance lists refuse and recycling containers among the site features the city requires to be screened, alongside ground-mounted and roof-mounted mechanical equipment and outdoor storage of materials. Subsection (d) sets the specific standard for containers: they must be screened from view of streets and all abutting lots by a solid wall or an opaque fence that is at least six feet high, and they cannot be placed in a front setback or a street-side setback at all, regardless of screening.

The screening requirement sits in Article IV, Division 2 of the zoning ordinance, the same division that governs transition yards and landscape design, and any hedge or planting used to satisfy it must meet the landscape material standards of section 27-233, including minimum plant sizes and mulched planting beds. The city ties compliance to occupancy: under section 27-232, no certificate of occupancy or similar authorization can be issued for a property until the city arborist determines that the landscaping and screening regulations of this division, which include the container-screening rule, have been met.

A separate landscape plan sealed by a Georgia-registered landscape architect, certified arborist, or registered forester is required for development permit applications subject to these standards. There is no separate city rule in this code governing collection-day set-out times for carts; that is a service detail handled through the city's waste hauler arrangement rather than the zoning ordinance.