Wicomico County, MD Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Section 225-143 of the Zoning Code, part of the county's landscaping and screening standards, treats dumpsters as service structures requiring both careful siting and full visual screening. Subsection C, 'Dumpster requirements,' directs that every development providing one or more dumpsters for solid waste collection must locate them so as to facilitate collection while minimizing any negative impact on people occupying the development site, neighboring properties, or public rights-of-way; every such dumpster must then be screened on all sides and include a gate. The dumpster provision builds on § 225-143A, which classifies dumpsters as 'service structures' alongside propane tanks, air-conditioning condensers and electrical transformers, and § 225-143B, which sets the general screening standard for those structures: a continuous planting, hedge, fence, wall or earth mound whose average height is one foot taller than the enclosed structure, up to a maximum of eight feet.

A handful of service structures are exempt from screening altogether, service structures in the A-1 Agriculture-Rural District, and any structure located more than 35 feet above grade, but those exemptions attach to the general service-structure category and do not carve dumpsters out of the specific gate-and-all-sides screening duty in § 225-143C. Section 225-143C(3) additionally requires that where screening material surrounds a mechanically emptied trash or waste collection unit, a fixed barrier at least 18 inches from the material must be strong enough to prevent damage when the container is moved or emptied. The Planning, Zoning and Community Development Department reviews dumpster siting and screening as part of site plan approval.