Onslow County, NC Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Article 10 of the Onslow County Zoning Ordinance sets two layers of rules for where a commercial dumpster or roll-off can sit in the unincorporated county. 2 requires every nonresidential use, plus multi-family and mobile-home park developments where each unit lacks its own collection service, to provide a collection and storage area designed and sized to accommodate the reasonably expected amount of solid waste generated by the associated use, and to keep that area a minimum of 25 feet from any external property line. 8 (Site Feature Screening) adds the design specifics: the collection area must sit behind the front building line of the principal structure and can never be located inside a required setback.

It has to be enclosed by an opaque wood or preassembled vinyl fence, or a brick or other masonry wall other than smooth-faced concrete block, at least six feet tall, with gated access on one side, and the fence or wall's color and materials must be compatible with the building it serves. Chain link fencing, even dressed with vinyl slats or fabric coverings, is expressly disqualified as screening. 8's screening duty entirely, so these rules target commercial pads, shopping centers, apartment complexes and mobile-home parks, not individual residential trash cans.