Costa Mesa, CA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 8-83(a) of the Costa Mesa Municipal Code makes it unlawful to place, deposit or dump solid waste, hazardous waste or infectious waste on private property without the owner's consent, on public property the public may enter by easement or license without consent, or on any public highway, street, alley, sidewalk, gutter, parkway, private road or driveway in common use. The only lawful drop points are disposal stations the city council or county board of supervisors has designated by resolution.

Subsection (b) adds a distance-based permit requirement: dumping anywhere within 1,000 feet of a public highway or within 500 feet of an established residence or dwelling requires a use permit under the city's, county's or state's zoning laws first, a rule that does not apply to waste placed in a container for a permitted hauler's regular pickup. Subsections (c) and (d) separately ban burning waste in the city without complying with South Coast Air Quality Management District rules, and prohibit scavenging or burying waste anywhere within city limits. Subsection (e) requires separate county, state or federal permits for disposing of items like ammunition, explosives, industrial and radioactive waste, acids, drugs, human feces and oversized items such as tree stumps or machine parts that can damage collection equipment.

Illegal dumping also affects permit standing: § 8-83(g) makes it unlawful for a permittee or franchisee to commingle waste collected in Costa Mesa with waste from another jurisdiction, and a violation is expressly declared grounds for permit revocation under § 8-79.