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

Section 19-17 of the Margate Code is the litter and dumping rule. It is unlawful to cast, throw, sweep, sift or deposit dirt, rubbish, or any waste article or substance, liquid or solid, in or upon a public way, street or other public place, or in any river, canal, public water, drain, sewer or receiving basin. The ban also reaches waste placed where sun, wind or rain would carry it into those places.

The section has three carve-outs: material deposited under a city permit, merchandise left in a public place in the necessary course of trade and removed within ten hours, and garbage or trash placed for normal collection within seventy-two hours after it is put out.

Haulers have their own duty in subsection (b). A vehicle hauling dirt, rubbish or waste must be covered whenever it moves on a street or alley, and on State Road 441 it must be covered at all times except while being loaded or unloaded. Brush, tree trimmings, branches, logs, fill and sand are exempt only if securely lashed or loaded so nothing spills.

Neighboring provisions cover dumping on land. Section 19-14 makes it unlawful to deposit or bury noxious filth, offensive material or garbage on any land, vacant or unoccupied lot or waterway, to leave discarded building material, dirt, rock, glass or scrap iron in a public street or alley, or to put grass clippings, leaves or small rubbish in streets, alleys, on sidewalks or on vacant lots. Under Section 19-16, trash and rubbish not in approved containers is declared a potential fire hazard: the owner gets a written notice to remove it within one day or deposit the city's estimated removal cost, and unpaid charges become a lien thirty days after the notice is mailed.