Medina, OH Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Section 1155.05(a) applies to "all uses that utilize dumpsters, recycling and trash handling areas, donation boxes and related service entrances" as accessory features to a principal building. Paragraph (a)(1) sets the core setback: dumpsters, recycling containers, trash handling areas, and related service equipment must sit at least five feet from an adjacent nonresidentially zoned lot and at least twenty feet from an adjacent residentially zoned lot. In the C-2 Central Business District or the Public Square Area defined in § 1135.07(a), the Planning Commission or Planning Director can waive that setback if meeting it is infeasible, recognizing how tight lots are downtown. The dumpster and any related equipment must sit on a concrete pad built strong enough for the containers and the trucks that service them.

Paragraph (a)(2) requires the equipment area to be screened on three sides by a solid fence or wall so it isn't visible from public rights-of-way or abutting properties, and if the access point itself would be visible from the street, a gate has to fully close off that view too. Paragraph (a)(3) sets the screen's dimensions: any required fence or wall must be at least five feet tall and no more than seven feet tall, and a wall, if built, should be painted to match the main building. Donation boxes get their own, separate rules under § 1155.05(B), including a maximum size of eighty-two inches high by fifty-six inches wide by forty-nine inches deep and a ban on placement on residentially used property.