[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Georgetown 6-27-1963 by Ord. No. 601. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Littering and dumping — See Ch. 135.
[1]
Editor's Note: Sections 185-1 through 185-8, formerly included as Ch. 185, Solid Waste, were redesignated as Ch. 185, Art. I, Garbage and Yard Waste, 11-13-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-20.
It shall be unlawful for any person to throw, place, sweep out or deposit any garbage, trash, rubbish, ashes, litter, refuse or other foreign or waste substance upon any sidewalk, crosswalk, avenue, street, road, highway, lane, alley or other public place within the Town of Georgetown or upon any property owned by the Town or upon any property or in any area over which the police power of the Town extends, except as provided by this article.
[Amended 7-27-1988 by Ord. No. 601A; 7-11-2001 by Ord. No. 01-003]
No collection of any garbage, trash, rubbish, ashes, litter, refuse, or any other foreign or waste substance shall be made by collectors employed by the Town from residences, restaurants, hotels, stores, garages, filling stations or other business, commercial or industrial establishments, except under the following circumstances:
A. 
All garbage shall be placed in the container as provided by the Town for collection.
[Amended 8-28-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-8; 8-25-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-1]
B. 
A fee, established by the Town Council, shall be paid in advance to the Town for the trash collection services as stated in the Code of the Town of Georgetown, Chapter 98, § 98-5 Utility services.
[Amended 5-8-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
C. 
Households may discontinue service from the Town's household/office garbage collection program by completing a discontinuation notice on a form prescribed by the Town and filing the completed notice at the Town Hall within 60 days of the adoption of this ordinance.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: "This ordinance" refers to Ord. No. 01-003.
D. 
Complete compliance shall be given to the rules and regulations governing the collection, handling and disposition of household/office garbage, trash, and rubbish as provided in § 185-3 and all other sections of this article.
[Amended 5-8-1991 by Ord. No. 601B; 11-13-1991 by Ord. No. 601C; 8-11-1999 by Ord. No. 99-08-02; 7-11-2001 by Ord. No. 01-003]
The following rules and regulations shall apply to and govern the collection, handling, and disposition of household garbage, trash, and rubbish, viz:
A. 
Rule 1. Participation in the Town's household/office garbage collection program is mandatory, unless exempt by the provisions of § 185-2C or § 185-6. However, only collectors employed by the Town are permitted to collect residential/office garbage within the Town limits. The owner or occupier of any given lot or property shall place all garbage and rubbish in specified containers and bundles, as hereinafter specified, along the curb in the front of such property in order that it may be conveniently removed by the collector thereof. All garbage, trash or rubbish containers when full shall be placed for collection along the curb in front of the property not sooner than 6:00 p.m. of the day preceding the day that the same normally will be collected by the collector, and not later than 6:00 a.m. on the normal day of collection; and all garbage, trash and rubbish containers shall be removed from the collection area and returned to the rear yard of the property by 9:00 p.m. on the day the container has been emptied by the collector.
[Amended 8-25-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-1]
B. 
Rule 2. Grass clippings, leaves, brambles, sticks, tree trimmings, weeds, garden refuse, dirt, gravel, rocks, hedge clippings and stumps shall not be collected by the Town of Georgetown as a part of the household/office garbage collection program, and no owner or occupier of any given lot or property shall place these items for collection by the Town as a part of the household/office garbage collection program.
C. 
Rule 3. All garbage and food waste shall be wrapped in paper or placed in plastic bags. All garbage, food waste, trash and rubbish shall be contained in the container provided by the Town for collection.
[Amended 8-28-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-8; 8-25-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-1]
D. 
Rule 4. No person shall put, place, deposit or throw any garbage, trash, rubbish or refuse collected or gathered from one property, upon or in front of any other lot or property without the express consent and the permission of the owner or occupier of such other lot so to do.
E. 
Rule 5. Under no circumstances shall the Town of Georgetown be obligated to perform collections which violate any of the terms of this article. Upon persistent violation of the terms of the chapter by any property owner or occupier, the Town may refuse to perform further collections or may prosecute pursuant to § 185-8 hereof.
F. 
Rule 6. Quarterly fee. The Town Council may establish a fee for the collection of household waste in accordance with the terms of this article.
[Amended 8-28-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-8]
G. 
Rule 7. In case of dispute over whether any item shall be collected by the Town of Georgetown pursuant to this article, all decisions of the Town Manager shall be final.
[Added 8-11-1999 by Ord. No. 99-08-02]
The following rules and regulations shall apply to and govern the collection, handling and disposition of curbside yard waste:
A. 
Rule 1. Grass clippings, weeds, leaves, garden refuse, hedge clippings, brambles, sticks, tree trimmings and other similar items will be collected by the Town of Georgetown as a part of the curbside yard waste collection program.
B. 
Rule 2. All brambles, sticks, tree trimmings and the like shall be securely tied together in bundles. Each bundle shall not exceed four feet in length, 36 inches in diameter or 50 pounds in weight.
C. 
Rule 3. Residents wishing to participate in the curbside yard waste collection program must contact the Town Department of Public Works to schedule pickup. The Department of Public Works will schedule at a minimum one day each week to collect yard waste in accordance with the terms of this section.
D. 
Rule 4. Bagged leaves will be collected at such times and on such dates in the fall as are publicly announced by the Town of Georgetown. Furthermore, leaves may be placed at such location and at such time and as when publicly announced by the Town of Georgetown for collection by the Town's streetsweeper.
E. 
Rule 5. Quarterly fee. There will be no fee for services relating to the collection of curbside yard waste.
F. 
Rule 6. In case of dispute over whether any item(s) shall be collected by the Town of Georgetown pursuant to this article, all decisions of the Town Manger shall be final.
G. 
Rule 7. Under no circumstances shall the Town of Georgetown be obligated to perform collections which violate any of the terms of this article. Upon persistent violation of the terms of this article by any property owner or occupier, the Town may refuse to perform further collections or may prosecute pursuant to § 185-8 hereof.
No person shall dispose of any garbage, trash or rubbish by throwing or placing it upon any lot or property or public way within the confines of the Town or within a distance of one mile of the Town limits.
All public waste containers placed by the Town upon or along any of the avenues, streets, lanes, alleys, ways or public places of the Town shall be used by the members of the general public as the place or places of disposal of waste paper and material accumulated by the members of the general public aforesaid while using the public ways or places of the Town aforesaid; and to this end, no person engaged in business either as owner, manager, operator, employer or other capacity, and no person residing in any dwelling either as owner, tenant, employee or guest, shall dispose of or place any garbage, trash, rubbish or other waste matter in any public waste container of the Town as aforesaid.
[Amended 7-27-1988 by Ord. No. 601A; 5-28-1996]
The owners or occupiers of such business, commercial or industrial establishments which do not choose to utilize Town collectors for the collection of garbage, trash, rubbish or other refuse shall be required to collect and dispose of, or cause to be collected and disposed of, at their own expense all garbage, trash, rubbish and other refuse for such establishments.
[Added 7-27-1988 by Ord. No. 601A; amended 5-28-1996]
Trash dumpsters shall be permitted for private trash collection services, as follows:
A. 
Trash dumpsters shall be permitted only for business, commercial and industrial establishments, and for multiple-family residential dwellings designed for and legally occupied by six or more families living independently of each other.
B. 
Trash dumpsters shall be of an appropriate size for the intended use, as approved by the Town Manager. Trash dumpsters must be placed on the property which is being served, and it shall be the responsibility of the owner or occupier of the business, commercial or industrial establishment, or the owner of the multiple-family residential dwelling, to ensure that trash dumpsters are utilized only by those occupying the property being served, and that trash dumpsters are emptied on a regular basis to prevent spillage.
C. 
Trash dumpsters must be placed on concrete pads and be screened from view on three sides from off the property being served.
D. 
The Town Manager may permit the temporary use of trash dumpsters, not complying with Subsection C herein, for construction purposes on any property.
E. 
The Town Manager, or his or her designee, may permit the use of trash dumpsters on existing developed properties, not complying with the screening requirements described in Subsection C herein, if it can be shown by the property owner, where, owing to special conditions or exceptional situations, a literal interpretation of the subsection will result in unnecessary hardship or exceptional practical difficulties to the owner of property so that the spirit of the subsection shall be observed and substantial justice done, provided that such relief may be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and without substantially impairing the intent and purpose of the subsection.
[Added 8-28-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-8]
[Added 5-28-1996; amended 10-28-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-16]
Any person violating any provision of this article shall pay such fines as set out in Chapter 1, Article III, General Penalty.
[Added 11-13-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-20]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DUMP
To throw, discard, place, deposit, discharge, bury, burn, or dispose of a substance.
PERSON
Any individual, natural person, joint-stock company, partnership, voluntary association, society, club, firm, company, corporation, business trust, organization or any other group acting as a unit, or the manager, lessee, agent, servant, partner, member, director, officer or employee of any of them, including an executor, administrator, trustee, receiver or other representative appointed according to law.
RETAIL TIRE DEALER
A person actively engaged in the business of selling new and/or used replacement tires.
SCRAP TIRE
An unshredded tire that is no longer suitable for its original intended purpose because of wear, damage, or defect.
SCRAP TIRE GENERATOR
Any person who generates scrap tires. Generators may include, but are not limited to, retail tire dealers, retreaders, scrap tire processors, automobile dealers, private company vehicle maintenance shops, garages, and service stations.
A. 
The owner or occupant of any premises shall be responsible for the sanitary handling and disposal of all scrap tires on the premises used or occupied by such person.
B. 
It shall be unlawful to cause or allow the dumping of scrap tires at any place within the Town limits of the Town of Georgetown, including, but not limited to:
(1) 
In or on any public highway, road, street, alley, thoroughfare, or right-of-way including any portion of the right-of-way thereof;
(2) 
On any public or private property within the Town limits of the Town of Georgetown.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person in a residential zoning district to accumulate more than five scrap tires on or around property, which they own or occupy.
B. 
A retail tire dealer may hold up to 100 scrap tires on premises.
C. 
Scrap tires must be stored in covered or enclosed areas, or under an impermeable cover to prevent the accumulation of water.
Retail tire dealers shall keep records regarding the disposal of scrap tires generated at each of the retail tire dealer's business locations. This report shall include the name, address, telephone number and certificated motor carrier identification number of the waste tire transporter and the number of whole waste tires transported from the retail tire dealers business location(s) by the waste tire transporter(s). These records must be kept on site at each business location and made available for inspection by the Town Manager or a representative upon request within five days. All records shall be retained for a period of not less than three years.
A. 
The Town Manager, and/or the Town of Georgetown Code Enforcement Officer shall have the authority and responsibility for enforcing the provisions of this article.
B. 
Any agent of any of the departments authorized to enforce this article shall be empowered to enter any property, upon reasonable cause, at reasonable or necessary times in order to properly inspect for violations of this article, subject to the condition that, to allow entry onto private property for inspection, the alleged violation of this article must be visible from a public road or right-of-way, or by a court order.
C. 
It is unlawful for any person, whether owner, occupant, or party in control of the building, structure, or premises, to refuse the entry of an enforcement agent or to interfere with the lawful enforcement of this article.
D. 
In the event any enforcement agent determines that there has been a violation of this article or has grounds to believe that a violation has occurred, a notice of violation shall be provided to the owner, occupant, or person or entity in control of the building, structure, or premises where the violation or alleged violation exists. Said notice of violation shall:
(1) 
Be in writing;
(2) 
Include a description of the building, structure or premises sufficient for identification;
(3) 
Include a statement of the violation(s);
(4) 
Include an order to correct allowing a reasonable time to bring the premises into compliance with this article;
(5) 
Be personally delivered by the Code Enforcement Officer or sent by certified or first-class mail addressed to the last known address; and
(6) 
If notice sent by certified or first-class mail is returned showing that the letter was not delivered, a copy thereof shall be posted in a conspicuous place in or about the building, structure, or premises affected by such notice.
[Amended 10-28-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-16]
A. 
Any person violating any provision of this article shall pay such fines as set out in Chapter 1, Article III, General Penalty.
B. 
In case of a tire dump, the property owner, contractor, developer, builder or other person responsible for the property shall, in addition to fines, cause the property to be cleaned and to come into full compliance with this article. The Town of Georgetown shall not be responsible for any costs of cleanup or remediation.
In the event that any person violates any provision of this article, the Town of Georgetown may, in addition to other remedies, institute an action for injunction, declaratory relief, or other appropriate action or proceeding to prevent such unlawful acts or to correct or abate any such violation. In addition, the Town of Georgetown may immediately revoke or suspend any and all business, building, development or any and all other permits issued by the Town of Georgetown related to the property or properties involved with the violation until such time that compliance is met, or until the ruling of a court of competent jurisdiction is obtained, at which time respective permits shall be reissued.
Should any sentence, section, subsection or provision of this article or application of a provision of this article be declared invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such declaration shall not affect the validity of the chapter as a whole or any part thereof that is not specifically declared to be invalid or unconstitutional.