Georgetown, KY Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Earliest set-out
- After 6:00 p.m. on the day before collection
- Latest removal
- No later than 10:00 p.m. on collection day
- Storage line
- Not nearer the street than the front façade
- Cure period
- 24 hours from notice unless the citation says otherwise
- Class 1 fine
- $50.00 initial, plus $50.00 per seven days, to $500.00
- Removal notice
- Resident has until 8:00 a.m. the next day
- Enforcers
- Code enforcement officers and Public Works employees
Summary
In Georgetown, solid waste containers cannot sit nearer the street than the front façade of the building they serve. They can be at the sidewalk, curb or street only after 6:00 p.m. on the day before the franchisee collects that street, and must be gone by 10:00 p.m. on collection day. Public Works can remove containers left out.
(4) No person shall place or keep solid waste containers, even if otherwise in conformity with this section, nearer to the street than the front façade of the residence or the commercial, industrial, or service building in which the waste is generated or otherwise on or about the sidewalk, curb or street at any time other than after 6:00 p.m. on the day before the city's exclusive solid waste franchisee is scheduled to collect that street's municipal waste and no later than 10:00 p.m. on the day on which the city's exclusive solid waste franchisee collects that street's municipal waste. (5) Unless otherwise specified by in the citation, violations of this section shall be remedied within 24 hours of notice. ... (a) The city's public works employees are authorized to remove all solid waste containers in violation of this article, upon affording written notice to the property owner or resident of the city's intent to remove them.
Official source re-checked November 3, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 4).
Full Breakdown
Section 40-28(4) of the Georgetown Code controls where solid waste containers sit and when they can be at the street. It covers the residence and also commercial, industrial and service buildings. Two things are banned: keeping a container nearer to the street than the front façade of the building where the waste is generated, and having a container on or about the sidewalk, curb or street outside the permitted window.
The window is tied to the collection day of the city's exclusive solid waste franchisee for that particular street. Containers go out after 6:00 p.m. on the day before collection and must come back no later than 10:00 p.m. on the day the franchisee collects. At every other time the container belongs at or behind the front façade.
Section 40-28 opens by declaring these acts nuisances that are unlawful and enforced under chapter 2, article VI, the Code Enforcement Board procedure. Subsection (5) sets the cure period: unless the citation says otherwise, a violation must be remedied within 24 hours of notice. Section 40-31 makes a violation of the article a civil offense enforced by the code enforcement board, hearing officers, code enforcement officers and citation officers, and it waives a citation only when the same or similar violation has not occurred on the property within the past 24 months and the violation is remedied within the time the citation specifies.
Section 40-29 adds a removal remedy. City public works employees are authorized to remove containers in violation after giving written notice to the property owner or resident. The notice printed in the code gives the resident until 8:00 a.m. the next morning to remove the container, after which it is taken to the city Public Works Facility, inventoried and held until the owner presents proof of ownership and pays any unpaid fines. Service is complete on actual personal delivery or on posting a true copy in a conspicuous place on the property, and posting the notice on the offending container satisfies the requirement.
Violations & Fines
A container left at the curb outside the 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. window, or kept nearer the street than the front façade, is a nuisance under § 40-28 and a civil offense under § 40-31. Violations with no other assigned penalty are Class 1 under § 2-842: the initial fine is $50.00, and $50.00 is added for each seven days or portion thereof beyond the remediation date, until the total reaches $500.00. A first Class 1 violation in a calendar year that is remedied in time carries no fine. The maximum civil fine is $1,000.00 if uncontested and $2,000.00 if contested. Public Works can also remove and hold the container.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Georgetown
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