Jacksonville, FL Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Sec. 606 of the Zoning Code requires every building or development, other than single-family residences, to provide off-street spaces or facilities for storing and emptying solid waste containers. Those spaces cannot sit on publicly-owned land, and they have to provide convenient access from public streets, driveways, parking areas or similar public access, with pavement strong enough for the trucks that normally collect solid waste. The size and layout of the space isn't left to the developer alone: the Ordinance Code ties it to 'the size of the projects served thereby and the volume of solid waste anticipated,' with the final determination made by the Director of Public Utilities.

This dumpster requirement sits inside Part 6 of Chapter 656, Off-Street Parking and Loading, so it's folded into the broader design standards for loading facilities in Sec. 607. That section requires all off-street loading areas, which includes solid waste facilities, to be visually screened from a public right-of-way, and bars any parking or loading space from blocking a public sidewalk. Sec. 601 makes the underlying obligation citywide: off-street parking and loading facilities 'shall be provided for all development within the City pursuant to the requirements of the Zoning Code,' and must be maintained for as long as the use they serve continues.

Because loading facilities are a Zoning Code requirement, Sec. 603(c) requires a plan showing the required loading spaces to be submitted with every building permit application for a use that needs them, meaning a project without an adequate, screened dumpster pad does not get its plans approved as submitted.