Lower Merion, PA Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Section 92-2 inserts Section 308.2.3, Dumpsters, into the Township's adopted Property Maintenance Code. It states flatly that dumpsters may not be stored unenclosed on residential or nonresidential property, and may not be placed at all unless the owner or user has obtained a permit from the Township and paid the associated fee. The insertion carves out two exceptions: dumpsters permitted under Chapter 82 of the Township Code, which governs garbage and refuse collection, and dumpsters used to remove debris and rubbish in connection with an active construction or renovation project, provided they are taken away within five days of the project's completion.

The section also bars putting garbage, as the Property Maintenance Code defines that term, into an open or uncovered dumpster, so even a permitted unit has to stay covered when holding household waste. Because Section 308.2.3 is one of the § 92-2 insertions into the adopted 2018 International Property Maintenance Code, it is enforced the same way as the rest of Chapter 92: the Code Official can issue a written notice of violation under inserted Section 106.2 describing the condition and setting a correction deadline, and if that notice is not promptly obeyed the Code Official may cite the violator or ask the Township Solicitor to sue under inserted Section 106.3.

The chapter's general penalty, inserted Section 106.4, then applies: a summary offense carrying a fine of up to $1,000 for each violation, with every day an unenclosed, unpermitted or improperly used dumpster remains on the property counted as a separate offense.