Pontiac, MI Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 86-223(a) bars dumping, placing or removing earth or other material on any premises in the City of Pontiac unless the owner's express written permission has been obtained and is shown to an enforcing officer on request by the vehicle operator doing the loading, transporting or dumping; even permitted dumping stays subject to zoning regulations and cannot create a nuisance. Subsection (b) reaches beyond the driver: it applies to any vehicle owner or individual who causes or permits the dumping, and it creates a rebuttable presumption that whoever's name is on the vehicle's registration, license plates or body is the person who caused or permitted the violation.

Subsection (c) puts investigation in the hands of the Police Department, the Building Department and the Department of Public Works, triggered once a witness supplies the identity or description of the dumper or the vehicle's name or plate number. Subsection (d) sets the penalty: conviction draws a fine of not less than $300.00 and not exceeding $500.00, imprisonment for up to 90 days, or both, at the court's discretion, with community service available as an added or alternative sanction. The section was amended by Ordinance No. 2340 in 2017 and sits inside the littering division of Chapter 86.