San Marcos, CA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

285 treats green waste recycling and composting operations as a fire hazard, not an ordinary land use. Before storing processed wood chips, hogged material, fines, compost or raw yard waste product, the operator must obtain a permit from the San Marcos Fire Department; the permit is non-transferable and any change in ownership, use or operation triggers a new application. Operators must file five operational plans before starting: a Fire Suppression and Prevention Plan, an Emergency Fire Plan, a Fire Dispersal Area Plan, an Emergency Operator Callback Response Plan (equipment on-site within one hour of a Fire Department call, 24/7), and an Incoming Waste Diversion Plan to stop stockpiling if processing is interrupted.

Piles cannot exceed 12 feet in height, 100 feet in width or 200 feet in length, and must be separated from one another by fire access roadways at least 20 feet wide. Internal pile temperature is checked weekly two-thirds up the pile; once a windrow exceeds 170°F it must be reduced in size and monitored daily until it drops below 158°F. Sites need public hydrants spaced every 400 feet delivering at least 1,000 gallons per minute at 20 psi, or, if no public supply exists, two 10,000-gallon private storage tanks.

Storage yards must be fenced to a minimum of 6 feet, and smoking or open flame anywhere on the operating site, including inside vehicles, is banned outright. Combustible vegetation must be cleared to bare earth for 50 feet around every raw or mulch pile. Before operating, the applicant posts a security bond sized to the operation, refundable only after the Fire Authority Having Jurisdiction confirms the site has closed cleanly.