Charlottesville, VA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

City Code § 26-1 makes it unlawful for any person 'to dump or otherwise dispose of trash, garbage, refuse, litter, a companion animal for the purpose of disposal, or other unsightly matter' on public property, including a street, right-of-way or adjacent property, or on private property without the written consent of the owner or the owner's agent. The rule reaches solid waste dumped anywhere in the city, not just curbside trash, and specifically calls out abandoning a dead or unwanted pet as illegal dumping. 2-936 procedures when making an arrest for a vehicle-load violation under § 26-1(b).

The section exempts lawful disposal at a licensed landfill. Section 26-2 sets the penalty for any violation of Chapter 26, including illegal dumping, at a Class 1 misdemeanor, the top misdemeanor tier the city's general penalty clause in § 1-11 recognizes. Charlottesville Police and Neighborhood Development Services investigate dumping complaints, and the same chapter's anti-littering language is cross-referenced when the city pursues owners of vacant lots or rental properties who allow trash to accumulate. Dumping charges are separate from, and can be layered with, the city's unlawful-accumulation-of-garbage and weeds provisions in Chapter 5's blighted-property article, since both trace back to the same littering definition.