Southfield, MI Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Sec. 2.12 of the Southfield City Code treats dumpster placement as something the city has to sign off on rather than a matter left to the property owner. In any single-family residential zone, no dumpster is allowed at all unless the city council or the zoning board of appeals has approved it as a special use under Sec. 5.62 of the zoning chapter. Everywhere else in the city, a dumpster still can't go on a property until the city planner or the city traffic engineer approves its specific location, weighing whether the spot gives service vehicles adequate access and avoids harming neighboring properties.

Once placed, Sec. 2.13 requires the dumpster to be enclosed or screened from public view with a completely obscuring wall or fence at least six feet high on three sides, with posts or bumpers inside the enclosure to protect it and at least ten feet of clearance in both depth and width. Acceptable screening materials are limited to masonry, brick, concrete block or reinforced concrete, or wood such as heartwood cedar, redwood or five-eighths-inch marine-grade plywood, treated or stained against rot. The director of building and safety engineering enforces the screening rule and can grant a waiver where a property's shape or size makes strict compliance impractical.

Screening isn't required for a dumpster used temporarily during construction, as long as it is removed or moved to an approved screened spot before the final certificate of occupancy issues. Sec. 2.14 adds a noise-control layer: a dumpster within five hundred feet of a residential dwelling, other than a hotel or motel, cannot be emptied between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.