Gordon County, GA Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Section 5.02.05 of the Gordon County Unified Land Development Code sets the dumpster standards in unincorporated Gordon County, Georgia. Screening comes first: a solid masonry wall or opaque fence at least 6 feet and no more than 8 feet tall, with a gate for access. The dumpster sits on a paved surface of sufficient size to accommodate it, and the location has to be easily accessible for pick-up.

Food service establishments carry two extra requirements. Their dumpsters shall provide a drain and a grease trap, and the section states both as separate mandates.

Placement is the second layer. Dumpsters shall be located to the rear of the principal building. A side location is permissible only where rear yard locations cannot provide adequate access for pick-up. Dumpsters cannot sit within any required buffer area, required landscaped area, required parking lot landscaping or stormwater management area.

Subsection (I) applies subsections (A) through (G) to each zoning district with the exception of the A-1 agricultural district, so screening, gate, pad, drain, grease trap, pick-up access and rear location standards do not bind A-1 lots. Subsection (H), the bar on buffers and landscaped areas, is not part of that A-1 carve-out as printed.

Construction sites follow a different rule. Section 5.03.01(F) states that construction and demolition debris dumpsters are allowable during a construction project and are not required to be screened. That temporary use also needs a building permit under Section 5.03.01(A), and the construction buildings, equipment, machinery and materials must be removed within 30 days of completion of the construction site.

A site plan for a new commercial building in unincorporated Gordon County has to show the dumpster pad location, because the Department of Building, Planning and Development reviews the location of the building and its parking and loading layout under Section 10.03.01(A)(5).