Hialeah, FL Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Sec. 58-27 splits the prohibition into two parts. Subsection (a) makes it unlawful for any person to dump or dispose of trash and garbage on or within public property in the city, an intentionally broad list that names roads, streets, alleys, rights-of-way, sidewalks, swale areas, parks, playgrounds, buildings, grounds, canals, lakes and other bodies of water. Subsection (b) separately bars dumping trash and garbage on private property within the city, so the prohibition is not limited to public land; dumping on someone else's vacant lot is equally unlawful.

Subsection (c) carves out one exception: a private waste contractor licensed by the city may process recyclable solid waste or construction and demolition debris within its own licensed business location, subject to Chapter 78. Enforcement runs through Chapter 22's civil citation procedure per Sec. 58-30, and Sec. 58-31 sets the penalty at up to $250 for a first offense and up to $500 for each repeat offense, assessed as a civil penalty rather than a criminal fine. A related but separate provision, Sec. 78-36, bars burning, burying or feeding garbage to animals and treats any unlawful accumulation that becomes a fire hazard or breeding ground for pests as its own violation of Chapter 78, enforced under that chapter's general penalty scale rather than Sec. 58-31's civil penalty.