Stonecrest, GA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 22-4(a) makes it unlawful to dump or cause to be dumped garbage, refuse, litter, junk, appliances, equipment, cans, bottles, paper, lumber, trees, tree limbs, or brush anywhere in the city, except at an incinerator or sanitary landfill operated by DeKalb County and only with the express approval of the Mayor and City Council. The section carves out one narrow exception in subsection (b): dumping sand, dirt, broken pavement, or similar fill material on private property is allowed if the property owner consents, the material is not left in an unsightly condition, and the owner agrees to grade it and bear the cost of grading.

Subsection (c) builds in an evidentiary shortcut for enforcement: if dumped material can be traced to having belonged to or been in the possession of a particular person, that identification is prima facie evidence that person dumped it. The city also funds tips: § 22-4(d) authorizes a reward, in an amount set by the Mayor and City Council and kept on file with the City Clerk, for information leading to an arrest and conviction for illegal dumping under this chapter or any state dumping law.

Because Chapter 22 sets no penalty of its own, an illegal-dumping conviction falls under the Code's general penalty in § 1-11(c)(1), and § 1-11(c)(2) treats a continuing dumping violation, such as material left in place, as a separate offense for each day it continues, with § 1-11(f) allowing the city to seek injunctive relief to force cleanup on top of any fine.