Lafayette, LA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 74-80, in Chapter 74's miscellaneous article on solid waste, makes it unlawful and a violation of the chapter to sweep, scatter, throw, deposit, blow by mechanical means, drop, or allow to be scattered, spilled, thrown, deposited, or dropped any solid waste, bulky waste, recyclables, or other unsightly, foul-smelling, or health-injurious substance in a private yard, lot, room, or building, or on any sidewalk, street, alley, wharf, levee, public parkway, public right-of-way, gutter, catch basin, or drainage structure anywhere within LCG's jurisdiction, unless it is contained in the type of container and manner the chapter specifies.

A construction-materials exception applies only when the material is covered by a building-inspector permit for street, alley, or utility work, and even then the permit holder cannot block free passage of the street, alley, or sidewalk. A companion provision, § 74-85, separately bans operating an 'open dump,' defined at § 74-1 as any site where solid waste is deposited on public or private property in a manner that doesn't comply with the chapter. Neither section carries its own fine schedule; enforcement runs through the Code's general penalty at § 1-9, which the noise and nuisance articles elsewhere in the Code likewise incorporate by reference rather than setting independent amounts.