Monterey, CA Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Section 38-110 requires every multifamily residential, commercial, industrial and public or semi-public use to provide a refuse storage area that is either located inside a building or fully screened from view, and that area has to be in place before the City allows occupancy of the site. That means a project cannot open its doors with dumpsters or bins sitting exposed in a parking lot or side yard.

The section does not spell out a fixed enclosure height or material in the code text itself: instead it hands the specifics to the Planning Commission, which prescribes the location, screening method, horizontal dimensions and general design parameters for refuse storage areas on a project-by-project basis through the development review process. That means the exact enclosure standard a business faces depends on what the Planning Commission has adopted for that type of use, and applicants should check current Planning Commission design standards rather than assume a single citywide dimension applies.

There is one explicit waiver built into the ordinance: in the IL Light Industrial District, the Planning Commission may waive the screening requirement altogether for dumpsters and refuse-collection equipment that are not visible from a public street, recognizing that back-of-property industrial refuse areas do not carry the same visual impact as those in commercial or residential settings. This provision was renumbered and reaffirmed by Ordinance 3715 in 2025 as part of a broader zoning code update.