Hamburg Village, NY Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Section 250-34.8 of the Village of Hamburg Code, part of the Zoning chapter adopted by the Board of Trustees, requires dumpsters, trash containers, receptacles, and garbage cans used for industrial, commercial, and residential uses (excepting one- and two-family dwelling units) to be enclosed and/or screened with a suitable material. The provision does not apply to temporary construction containers.

Enclosures must provide complete visual screening and be compatible in material and color with the principal structure. The enclosure is a wall, solid fence, or nondeciduous planting; plantings are spaced no more than three feet apart, and walls and solid fences are wood, masonry, metal, or concrete. Height must block the view of the receptacles from adjoining properties, sidewalks, and streets, and in any event is no less than six feet. Enclosures and dumpsters sit on a concrete pad built to meet or exceed minimum specifications for the anticipated weight of the dumpster. Gates or doors are held open only during garbage pickup, and lids must remain completely closed at all times. The reviewing board can also require a roof over the enclosure where the site is sloped and neighbors are at a higher elevation.

On location, enclosures for industrial, commercial, central business, and multifamily uses cannot occupy a right-of-way and cannot be within eight feet of the side or rear property lines. Where a district has no required front setback, dumpsters and garbage cans cannot be within 20 feet of the front property line. The Planning Commission prefers the rear yard first, the side yard second, and the front yard last. For one- and two-family dwellings, trash containers are not permitted in the front yard unless practical difficulty is proven to the reviewing board.

The Planning Commission reviews every enclosure through site plan review, and building the required enclosure takes a building permit from the Building Department. Dumpsters in place before the section took effect must comply too: the Village of Hamburg sends the owner a compliance notice with a blank site plan review application.