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

Section 40.704(I) of the Land Development Code sets the enclosure standard. Every dumpster, compactor and site with five (5) or more garbage cans in the City of Margate must sit on a reinforced concrete pad inside a durable opaque enclosure at least six (6) feet high. Chain link and similar material are barred, each enclosure needs durable gates, and a continuous hedge at least thirty-six inches tall must be planted in a bed at least three (3) feet wide on any side visible from the right-of-way or from residential property.

Chapter 19 (§ 19-1) defines a mechanical container as a dumpster, roll-off container, compactor or other large container placed on and removed from a property with mechanical equipment for garbage, trash, recyclables or construction and demolition debris. Legally nonconforming sites must comply when a DRC application for site plan approval or amendment, or a special exception, involves new construction or redevelopment. Location rules add to this. Under § 40.355(E), dumpsters, including recycling dumpsters, must be screened from public view as § 40.704 requires and must allow pickup and emptying without impact to traffic flows or inconvenience to residents, and trash container areas must have enough dumpsters and pickups to prevent accumulation.

Dumpster enclosures also have to be kept in a good state of repair under § 40.355(C)(4). In R-3 under § 40.512(F), front setbacks and street setbacks cannot be used for storage of dumpsters or other garbage or trash containers. Another provision of § 40.704 requires trash container and dumpster areas to be maintained so as to prevent runover spillover of refuse.