Arvada, CO Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 38-141 opens Division 2, 'Miscellaneous Nuisance Offenses,' inside the nuisances article of Chapter 38. Subsection (a) declares it a prohibited nuisance to dump, throw, or place rubbish, cans, boxes, trash, debris, grass clippings, or other waste materials on any private or public place in the city, reaching both a stranger illegally dumping on someone else's lot and a property owner piling junk on their own land. Subsection (b) closes an obvious workaround: covering that same waste with earth, dirt, sand, or other organic material to disguise it as fill is likewise declared a nuisance and prohibited, whether on private or public property.

00 and 364 days. Before reaching a fine, the city manager can order abatement under Section 38-124, entering the property to inspect and issuing 24 hours' written notice to the owner, agent, tenant, or occupant to remove the dumped material; anyone who neglects or refuses becomes liable for the city's abatement costs on top of the criminal penalty. Illegally dumped material sitting on a property long enough can also trigger the separate nuisance-property abatement process in Section 38-161, which allows a ten-day notice, a hearing before the city manager, and a 30-day compliance order appealable to district court, with noncompliance charged back to the owner as administrative costs.