[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Lewes 4-7-1958. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Junkyards — See Ch. 115.
Littering — See Ch. 121.
Property maintenance — See Ch. 148.
Abandoned vehicles — See Ch. 181.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to throw, place or deposit any garbage, trash, rubbish, ashes, refuse or other foreign substance upon any sidewalk, boardwalk, crosswalk, avenue, street, lane, alley, beach, park, strand or other public place within the City or upon any property owned by the City or upon any property over which the police power of the City extends, except as provided in § 106-2 hereof.
B. 
Duty to provide approved containers.
[Added 8-13-2007]
(1) 
Cart collection. The City shall provide one ninety-five-gallon capacity cart to each dwelling unit per residential structure based on the number of dwelling units per structure. After payment of the lease fee, a property owner may exchange the ninety-five-gallon cart for a sixty-five-gallon cart with no refund or additional lease fee. The carts shall remain the property of the City. The carts are assigned to a specific property and are to remain with that property in the event ownership changes. The owner, occupant, or proprietor of any individual structure may lease one additional cart from the City for a fee as set by resolution of the Mayor and City Council. The lease fee will be invoiced to the property owner and, if not paid within 30 days of invoice, will become a lien on the property. When a bin is used to store the cart, the bin shall have a gate to allow the cart to be rolled out without lifting the cart.
[Amended 4-12-2010]
(2) 
Cart liability. The owner, occupant, proprietor, or other person in charge of a residential dwelling shall be liable for cart replacement or repair for damages considered over and above normal wear and tear by cart manufacturers and for replacement of missing carts. The City shall replace/repair carts damaged by normal wear and tear at its expense.
In respect to the handling and disposition of garbage, trash and rubbish, the following rules and regulations shall apply:
A. 
The owner or occupier of any given lot shall place all trash, garbage and rubbish along the curb in front of such lot in order that it may be conveniently removed by the collector thereof.
[Amended 10-15-2007]
B. 
All trash, garbage and rubbish not deposited in City-provided carts shall be contained in plastic bags, each of a capacity not to exceed 25 pounds.
[Amended 5-12-1980; 10-15-2007]
C. 
All brambles, sticks, tree trimmings and the like shall be securely tied together in bundles, each of which shall not exceed 50 pounds in weight.
D. 
(Reserved)[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection D, prohibiting garbage from being included in any container, was repealed 10-15-2007.
E. 
Placement of containers and carts.
(1) 
All trash, garbage and rubbish containers shall be removed from the front of any given property within 24 hours after same shall have been emptied by the collector and, when full, shall be placed along the curb in front of the property not sooner than 12:00 noon of the day preceding the day that same normally will be collected by the collector.
[Amended 10-15-2007]
(2) 
Carts for collection shall be placed near the curb in locations designated by the City Streets Supervisor, or his designee, providing a two-feet minimum clearance from parked cars and other obstructions. Carts shall be placed with the wheel-side of the cart facing the dwelling. Carts placed in unapproved locations or in nonconformance with this section, may be collected under the provision of § 106-3 of this chapter.
[Added 8-3-2007]
F. 
(Reserved)[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection F, regarding the wrapping and storage of garbage, was repealed 10-15-2007.
G. 
No person shall dispose of any trash, garbage or rubbish by throwing or placing it upon any lot within the confines of the City or within a distance of one mile of the City limits.
[Amended 10-15-2007]
H. 
All persons engaged in the collection and removal of trash, garbage or rubbish, including those employed by the City for that purpose, shall collect and transport same through or along the avenues, streets, lanes, alleys or other public ways of the City in a sanitary, covered liquidtight container or motor vehicle body only.
[Amended 10-15-2007]
I. 
No person shall put, place or throw any garbage, trash or rubbish collected or gathered from one lot upon or in front of any other lot within the City without the expressed consent and permission of the owner of such other lot so to do.
J. 
All public waste containers placed by the municipal corporation along any of the avenues, streets, alleys, sidewalks and boardwalks of the City shall be used by the members of the general public as the place or places of disposal of wastepaper and material accumulated by members of the general public, aforesaid, while using the public ways of the City, aforesaid. 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 or rubbish in any public waste container of the City aforesaid.
K. 
It shall be unlawful for any property owner or occupier of any property within the corporate limits of the City to permit or authorize any person who does not reside upon the same premises as the property owner or occupier to deposit, put or place any garbage, trash or rubbish upon property owned or occupied by such property owner or occupier to be collected and removed by employees of the City.
[Added 3-11-1985]
L. 
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to transport any garbage, trash or rubbish from outside the corporate limits of the City and to deposit such garbage, trash or rubbish to any place within the corporate limits of the City to be collected and removed by employees of the City.
[Added 3-11-1985]
[Added 5-12-1980]
A. 
The following restrictions and requirements are necessary to conserve the capacity of various solid waste disposal facilities for their primary purpose of receiving garbage and rubbish and prevent use by persons, firms or corporations which do not contribute to the cost of operation of said facilities:
(1) 
A permit must be obtained in advance from the County Engineer's office to dispose of any building or portion thereof larger than 250 square feet in size. This permit may require disposal at other than the nearest facility because of space available. All buildings or portions of buildings must be reduced to flat sections, be free from garbage and rubbish and small enough to be transported legally without a permit.
(2) 
A permit must be obtained in advance from the County Engineer's office to dispose of more than four discarded car, truck or tractor tires.
(3) 
Trees trimmed or removed for land development or right-of-way clearing shall have all wood four inches or less in diameter chipped, larger wood cut in lengths not exceeding four feet in length and all roots trimmed flush with the base of stumps. Trees trimmed or removed by a person doing the work at his own residence need not be reduced to chips but must be cut to the four-foot length or shorter.
(4) 
All refrigerators, freezers or similar objects shall have the doors removed before disposal at facilities operated by Sussex County.
(5) 
It shall be unlawful to transport solid wastes originating outside Sussex County to solid waste disposal facilities operated by Sussex County without a special permit issued under conditions and rates recommended by the County Engineer and approved by the Sussex County Council.
B. 
Unacceptable wastes, as defined in Sussex County legislation, may be received at disposal sites operated by Sussex County upon application to the County Engineer but would be subject to special charges recommended by the County Engineer and approved by the Sussex County Council.
[Added 11-19-2007[1]; amended 4-12-2010; 1-9-2012]
A. 
Residents shall only use recycling carts provided by the City or its contractor for curbside recycling.
B. 
The carts shall remain the property of the City or its contractor. Carts are assigned to a specific property and shall remain with that property in the event of a change in ownership.
C. 
The owner, occupant, or other person in charge of a residential dwelling shall be responsible for repairing or replacing a cart damaged, in the opinion of the City or its contractor, over and above normal wear and tear. The owner, occupant, or other person in charge of a residential dwelling shall also be responsible for replacing missing carts.
D. 
Residents shall obey all rules and regulations set forth by the State of Delaware, the City of Lewes, and the City's contractor regarding curbside recycling, including, but not limited to, materials that may be placed in the recycling carts.
E. 
Placement of recycling carts:
(1) 
The recycling cart may be placed for collection no sooner than 12:00 noon on the day preceding the day scheduled by the City or its contractor for collection.
(2) 
Carts for curbside recycling shall be placed near the curb in locations designated by the City Streets Supervisor, his designee or its contractor.
(3) 
The recycling cart, when empty, shall be removed from its curbside collection location within 24 hours after being emptied by the City or its contractor.
(4) 
If a structure is used to store a recycling cart, the cart must be moved out of said structure by the owner, occupant, or other person in charge so recyclables may be collected by the City or its contractor.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also redesignated former § 106-4, Violations and penalties, as § 106-6.
For purposes of this chapter, unless the context otherwise clearly indicates:
AUTOMATED COLLECTION
The use of fully or semi-automated mechanized lift collection vehicles with authorized carts.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
COMMERCIAL REFUSE
All solid or semisolid waste resulting from industrial, and/or commercial processes, manufacturing, assembling, handling, storage, or sale of merchandise or services; bricks, blocks, drywall, plaster, wood, acoustical tile, marble, and other inert solid waste including tree stumps, tree trunks; solid waste or semisolid waste from public or private profit or nonprofit institutional operations such as schools, universities, churches, fraternal organizations, and other uses not classified as residential dwellings.
GARBAGE
Residential waste resulting from the preparation and serving of food.
METHOD OF COLLECTION
The process by which residential refuse and trash is transferred from a storage container to a side-loading collection vehicle, including manual, semi-automated, or full-automated collection methods.
REFUSE
Garbage and rubbish originating from residential dwellings in the community and requiring physical removal from the place of origin to a place of ultimate disposal.
RESIDENTIAL DWELLINGS
Nontransient, single-family, two-family (two residential units) and multifamily dwelling places (three or more residential units) and which are assessed for and pay City of Lewes property taxes.
RUBBISH
Normal dry material produced routinely and consisting of such waste material as paper, cans, bottles, cardboard and ashes.
TRASH
All solid and semisolid waste material originating from residential dwellings not included under other definitions in this section. Included in this definition are bricks, blocks, drywall, plaster, wood, acoustical tile, marble and other inert solid waste including tree stumps, tree trunks, leaves, brush branches, Christmas trees, lawn rakings, and similar waste materials produced on a seasonal basis and representing intermittent or seasonal collection practices. Also included in this definition are bulking objects as discarded household furniture and appliances which are produced occasionally and which do not fit into regular refuse collection vehicles.
YARD WASTE
Plant material residues resulting from lawn maintenance and other horticultural gardening and landscaping activities including grass, leaves, prunings, brush, shrubs, garden material, Christmas trees, and limbs up to six inches in diameter.
[Amended 5-12-1980; 8-13-2007]
A. 
Authority of Streets Supervisor to inspect property to enforce chapter.
(1) 
The Streets Supervisor, or his designee, after identifying himself, shall have the authority to enter at all reasonable times upon private or public property for the purpose of inspecting and investigating conditions relating to the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter.
(2) 
The Streets Supervisor, or his designee, is authorized to notify, in writing, the owner, occupant, proprietor, or other person in charge of every dwelling, house, apartment, commercial establishment, office building, or any occupied and unoccupied building, to correct any violations of this chapter by the next succeeding collection period. Written notification shall be by first class mail, addressed to the owner or person in control, or agent of the owner, at his/her last known address, or the latest address, or by hand delivery to such person(s).
(3) 
Any person served with such notice shall be deemed to have been given notice for the eighteen-month period immediately thereafter. The City may, without further notice, issue a summons at any time within such eighteen-month period for recurring or new violations of this chapter.
(4) 
Due to the nature of refuse collection, the conditions resulting from violations which may create a nuisance or be dangerous to the public health, safety, welfare, or affect the quality of life in a neighborhood, the Streets Supervisor, or his designee, at his discretion, may pick up the refuse or correct the situation under violation of code and shall invoice the property owner pursuant to the fee and payment basis established in § 106-3 without prior notification to the property owner.
B. 
Penalties.
(1) 
Any person violating this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $100, nor more than $250, for the first offense and not less than $200 nor more than $500 for any subsequent offense occurring within 18 months of a prior conviction.
(2) 
Each day during which such violation is committed, maintained, or permitted to continue, shall constitute a separate offense and shall be punishable as such.