Palm Beach Gardens, FL Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Section 78-378 applies citywide to any zoning district using a dumpster of ninety gallons or greater for sanitation or recycling service, carving out temporary job-site dumpsters and recycling containers inside city parks. Placement has to keep collection practical for sanitation vehicles and for the people depositing trash without creating a nuisance or a blighting effect, and dumpsters can never sit within the right-of-way of a public street or alley. Screening applies on all four sides: new developments and major redevelopment projects must screen every side per Figure 17 with self-closing, well-maintained gates, while existing dumpsters can use concrete block, opaque fencing, or a combination, matched where practicable to the architectural style of the main building.

Every screening enclosure must stand at least six feet tall, measured from the surrounding grade, or exceed the dumpster's, recycling container's, or compactor's own height by at least one foot, whichever number is greater. Dumpsters have to sit on a hard, impermeable surface sized for the unit, and enclosures must meet the minimum building setbacks in section 78-153 plus an added 75-foot setback specifically where the enclosure abuts a residential zoning district, unless the dumpster actually sits inside that residential district itself. The growth management director can authorize a reduction in existing parking spaces to make room for a compliant dumpster enclosure or to add recycling capacity, and appeals from staff decisions on dumpster placement go to the Planning, Zoning, and Appeals Board under section 78-56.