Union, NY Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Dumpster placement and screening is governed by § 300-54.6 of the Town of Union Code, titled Screened dumpster or service area requirements. It sits in Article 54 (Landscaping, Screening, and Buffering Regulations) of the Consolidated Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Union, Village of Johnson City, and Village of Endicott, which § 300-10.4 applies in the Town of Union outside the Villages of Endicott and Johnson City and inside both villages.

The rule applies in any district. It reaches all areas designated, used or intended to be used as dumpster or service areas for any building or land use, other than one-family and two-family dwelling units. Apartment buildings, shops, offices and industrial sites are covered, while a house or duplex is not.

The screen itself has three permitted forms: a wall, a solid fence, or a combination of fencing and evergreens creating a solid visual barrier. It must reach a height of at least five feet above grade level and must be on all sides where the adjacent land is in a residential district or a residential use. A side facing a commercial neighbor is not covered by the screening duty in this section, but a side facing a house or a residentially zoned parcel is.

The section regulates screening and service areas. It does not set a distance from the lot line for a dumpster and does not mention temporary roll-off containers by name. Screening evergreens fall under the Article 54 landscaping rules: trees used for screening must provide a visual screen from the ground up, at least five feet in height (§ 300-54.2(G)), and required landscaping must be maintained in healthy condition by the property owner (§ 300-54.2(E)). Commercial, industrial, multifamily and institutional properties also execute a landscape maintenance agreement before a certificate of occupancy (§ 300-54.5).

Curbside household containers are a different chapter. Chapter 130 requires containers to be set out no earlier than 2:00 p.m. the day before and no later than 6:00 a.m. on collection day, emptied containers removed by 8:00 p.m., and containers kept reasonably out of view from the street and out of the front yard the rest of the time (§ 130-5).