Charles County, MD Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Charles County folds solid-waste container siting into its zoning-permit review under § 297-307, in the same Article XVIII group of standards that covers exterior lighting and landscaping. Any new development that is required to provide one or more dumpsters must locate them where collection trucks can reach them efficiently and where they won't create a nuisance for people on the development site, on neighboring properties, or on public rights-of-way. Screening is mandatory, not optional: subsection B requires that every dumpster be shielded from view for three separate audiences: residents of any other dwelling unit on residential property, occupants, customers or employees of any other building on nonresidential property, and anyone traveling on a public street, sidewalk or other public way.

The one carve-out is for nonresidential neighbors located in the IG (Industrial, General) or IH (Industrial, Heavy) Zones, where screening from other businesses isn't required because the surrounding uses are already industrial. Because the dumpster-siting standard sits inside the Zoning Ordinance rather than a separate solid-waste chapter, compliance is checked by the Department of Planning and Growth Management and the Zoning Officer as part of site plan review, alongside the exterior lighting standards of the adjoining § 297-306 and, for projects in the Waldorf Central or Action Urban Center Zones, the Downtown Waldorf Design Guidelines.