Arcadia, CA Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Article III, Chapter 8 of the Arcadia Municipal Code, added by Ord. 1900 on 1-3-89, governs construction bins on streets. Section 3800 applies to owners, licensees, tenants, building contractors, housemovers and anyone else with charge or control of a lot who places a roll-off trash receptacle or similar obstruction on the streets, parkways or sidewalks of the City. A permit lasts no longer than three (3) weeks, with a one (1)-week extension from the City Building Official for good cause. The Building Official can prohibit bins on certain streets, and the code names Holly Avenue during racing sessions at Santa Anita Race Track as the example.

The permit requirement excludes three (3) cubic yard bins commonly used by homeowners, apartments and business establishments for regular trash collection. Under § 3801 the applicant pays a fee and a deposit, both set by City Council resolution. The City can use the deposit for towing, removal of the receptacle, or barriers and reflectors, and the permittee owes any policing cost above the deposit. Placing a bin without a permit triggers a special investigation and an investigation fee equal to twice the permit fee, owed whether or not a permit is later issued.

Section 3802 also requires that bins not block a thoroughfare, carry reflectorized markings on each end (orange and white per the Work Area Traffic Control Handbook, or red and white per California Vehicle Code § 24611) or else barricades and lights, that the applicant indemnify the City, and that the permit stays revocable at any time. For permanent commercial dumpsters on private property, Development Code § 9103.01.130 requires at least one trash enclosure for new and expanded commercial and industrial projects with a floor area exceeding 500 square feet, at least nine feet wide by six feet deep by six feet high, with a one (1) foot interior clearance between the bin and the enclosure wall.