[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Millsboro 6-3-2002.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Brush, grass and weeds — See Ch. 66.
Junkyards — See Ch. 128.
Littering — See Ch. 130.
Sewers — See Ch. 161.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance superseded former Ch. 170, Solid Waste, comprised as follows: Art. I, Collection, adopted 10-1-1990 by Ord. No. LIII; and Art. II, Accumulation on Premises, adopted 11-7-1991 by Ord. No. LV, as adopted.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS
Any establishment, property or premises that requires a business license from the Town, excepting those exempted by Chapter 140.
GARBAGE
Every refuse accumulation of animals, fruit or vegetable matter, liquid or otherwise, that attends the preparation, use, cooking, dealing in or storing of meat, fish, fruit or vegetables.
PERSON
A natural person, joint-stock company, partnership, voluntary association, society, club, firm, company, corporation, limited-liability company, business trust, organization or any other group acting as a unit, or the manager, lessee, agent, servant, partner, member, director, officer or employee, or tenant or any of them, including an executor, administrator, trustee, receiver or other representative appointed according to law.
RESIDENTIAL AREAS
All residences, other than motels and hotels, but shall include boardinghouses, apartment houses and condominiums regardless of whether such residences are located in areas other than residential zones, as defined in Chapter 210, Zoning, of the Code of the Town of Millsboro.
RUBBISH
Waste material and refuse of every character collected or accumulated within the Town, except garbage or trash, and shall include, by way of enumeration but not by way of limitation, sticks, tree branches, noncombustible matter including but not limited to metals, dirt, stone, crockery and other mineral waste, stone, concrete, old boards, used furniture or household appliances, old tires, vehicles, parts or related equipment, and other obvious junk, salvage or unsightly materials, barrels, crates, equipment, wood, street rubbish, including but not limited to street sweepings, dirt, leaves, catch basin dirt and contents of litter receptacles, and waste resulting from industrial processes and manufacturing operations.
TRASH
Rubbish, such as feathers, coffee grounds, ashes, tin/aluminum cans, broken glass, paper, boxes, glass, wood, shrubs, yard clippings, leaves, tree trimmings and similar matter.
[Amended 11-4-2024]
A. 
The accumulation of waste, refuse, trash and other deleterious substances on the premises of private residences, commercial enterprises, industrial establishments and in the streets and alleys greatly increases the danger of fire and the spread of infections and contagious and epidemic diseases and is hereby declared to be a common and public nuisance.
B. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to place or permit to remain anywhere in the Town any garbage, refuse, rubbish, trash or other material subject to decay, other than leaves, grass or compost, except in a tightly covered container as hereinafter provided.
C. 
Residential disposal of garbage and trash may be provided by the Town.
D. 
All other disposal of every kind of rubbish, waste or other deleterious or substances shall be provided by the property owner.
E. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to permit to escape from appropriate and required storage or containers any waste, refuse, trash or other deleterious substances.
F. 
It shall be unlawful for any commercial hauler or commercial collector of garbage or rubbish or both of them to collect garbage or rubbish or both within the corporate limits of the Town of Millsboro between the hours of 7:00 p.m., prevailing time, until 7:00 a.m., prevailing time, of the morning of the following day, unless otherwise approved by Town Council.
In respect to the handling and disposition of garbage, trash and rubbish, the following rules and regulations shall apply:
A. 
Residential.
(1) 
All residential garbage and trash for collection by the Town shall be placed in metal or plastic containers, plastic bags or other suitable covered containers so that they can be lifted and carried by one person.
(2) 
No such container shall have the capacity of more than 96 gallons.
(3) 
The owner or occupier of any given lot shall place all garbage and refuse for collection by the Town in a designated location in order that it may be conveniently removed by the collector thereof.
(4) 
All rubbish or garbage and trash 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.
B. 
Business establishments; all other disposal.
(1) 
All business establishments and industrial establishments with the Town limits shall provide for private disposal from their properties at least one time per week.
(2) 
Dumpsters are required in the Urban Business District, Commercial District, High-Density Residential District and the Industrial District, and for residential units subject to a business license and which have four or more units on the same lot. Dumpsters shall be placed in a location approved by the Town and shall be placed within an enclosure of sufficient height to obscure such dumpster from public view.
C. 
All persons engaged in the collection and removal of garbage, including those employed by the Town for that purpose, shall collect and transport same through or along the avenues, streets, lanes, alleys or other public ways of the Town in a sanitary, covered liquid-tight container or motor vehicle body only.
D. 
All public waste containers placed by the Town along any of the avenues, streets, alleys and sidewalks of the Town 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 Town, aforesaid. To this end, no person engaged in business, either as owner, manager, operator, employer or other capacity, and no person shall dispose of or place any garbage, trash or rubbish in any public waste container of the Town aforesaid.
E. 
It shall be unlawful for any property owner or occupier of any property within the corporate limits of the Town 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 to any place within the corporate limits of the Town to be collected and removed by contractors or employees of the Town.
F. 
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to transport any garbage, trash or rubbish from outside the corporate limits of the Town and to deposit such garbage, trash or rubbish to any place within the corporate limits of the Town to be collected and removed by contractors or employees of the Town.
A. 
The Town Manager or his/her designated representative may make, or cause to be made, inspection trips at regular or irregular intervals to determine that refuse, garbage, trash, and waste are being properly stored, collected and removed and that proper charges are being assessed therefor. If the Town Manager or his/her designated representative, following the inspection, determines and reports to the Town Council that there is an accumulation of waste, refuse, trash, garbage or other deleterious substance on the premises of any private residence, commercial establishment, industrial establishment or in the streets and alleys of said Town, the Town Council shall notify the property owner or lessee at his/her last known address to remove the accumulation of waste, refuse, trash and other deleterious substances from the property so identified and to prevent any accumulation of waste, refuse, trash, garbage and other deleterious substances from accumulating on the premises so identified and to have said accumulation of waste, refuse, trash, garbage and other deleterious substances removed from said premises within five calendar days from the date of delivery of the written note.
B. 
Upon the failure of the property owner or tenant to have said accumulation of waste, refuse, trash, garbage and other deleterious substances removed from the premises so identified or if the property owner or tenant shall permit the accumulation of waste, refuse, trash, garbage or other deleterious substances on the premises so identified following said notice, the Town Council may proceed to cause said accumulation to be removed, and, when removed, a bill for the costs thereby incurred in the name of the Town shall, as soon as convenient thereafter, be presented by certified mail with return receipt requested to the owner of said property. If a property owner or tenant has been given notice pursuant to the terms of this section, whether or not he/she has complied, on the second violation, the Town may proceed with its remedy of collection and billing for costs or citation for violation and seeking a penalty without further notice required.
C. 
If the bill so presented by the Town shall not be paid within 30 days following the delivery thereof, it shall be lawful for the Town to institute an action in the corporate name in any court of competent jurisdiction in the State of Delaware, or elsewhere, for the collection of the debt and to collect the same in the manner or hereafter provided for the collection of judgments in the State of Delaware.
D. 
The owner or tenant of the owner who, having received notice pursuant to the provisions of this section, shall be deemed to receive notice for the remainder of the calendar year that on the first day of each calendar month after said notice, the Town may, without further notice, collect the accumulation of all waste, refuse, trash, garbage or other deleterious substances located on the property so identified, and that the cost of the removal of such accumulation of waste, refuse, trash, garbage or other deleterious substances located on the property so identified shall be charged and collected in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $200 for the first such conviction. For a second conviction, any person, firm or corporation shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $500 for each conviction. Such person, firm or corporation so convicted shall pay the costs of prosecution, including the Town's reasonable attorney's fees and Victim's Compensation Fund assessment. For the purposes of this chapter, each day or part of a day that accumulation of waste, refuse, trash, garbage or other deleterious substances shall accumulate on the premises so identified shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense.