Marin County Municipal Code Ch. 7.04 Garbage Disposal Dumps

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section:

"Garbage" means and includes the animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of foods, and all other readily putrescible waste materials;

"Rubbish" means and includes all trash, refuse and waste materials not included within the term "garbage," as defined herein. It includes, but is not limited to, tree, shrub, and lawn trimmings, paper, glass, crockery, packing material and rags;

"Refuse" means and includes mixed garbage and rubbish;

"Garbage dump" means any location or area used for the disposal of garbage from more than one residence;

"Rubbish dump" means any location or area used for the disposal of rubbish from more than one residence;

"Refuse dump" includes any location or area used for the disposal of mixed garbage and rubbish from more than one residence;

"Person" includes natural persons, corporations, partnerships and associations;

"Health officer" means the health officer of Marin County or his authorized representative.

(Ord. 1463 § 1, 1965: Ord. 692 § 1, 1954)

No person shall keep, maintain or operate a garbage, rubbish or refuse dump within Marin County without first having obtained a permit therefor from the Marin County health department. The permit required by this section shall be in addition to any permit required for garbage, rubbish or refuse dumps by Marin County zoning code as amended.

No person shall transport or cause to be transported along and upon the public streets, roads and highways of Marin County, any garbage without having first obtained a permit therefor from the Marin County health department. Such permit shall be carried by the driver of any garbage, rubbish or refuse vehicle.

All permits for garbage, rubbish and refuse dumps and/or vehicles shall expire on the last day of the twelfth month from the date of issuance or renewal. Such permit shall not be transferable upon change of ownership.

(Ord. 1463 § 2, 1965: Ord. 692 § 2 (part), 1954)

A permit may be immediately suspended by the health officer for a violation of any provision of this chapter when, in his opinion, the danger to public health is so imminent, immediate and threatening as not to admit of delay. In the event of such suspension, the holder shall be given an opportunity for a hearing before the health officer within at least forty-eight hours of the time of suspension. After the hearing, a reasonable time shall be allowed by the health officer for correction of the violation.

If, in the opinion of the health officer, the danger to public health is not so imminent, immediate and threatening as not to admit of delay, the health officer shall notify the holder of the health officer's intention to suspend the permit within a specified period of time if the condition is not corrected. No such suspension shall take effect, however, until the holder has been given an opportunity for a hearing before the health officer. During that period of suspension and/or correction, the garbage, refuse or refuse dump or the garbage, rubbish or refuse vehicle, or any portion thereof, may be ordered closed or inoperable, if the health officer deems such action necessary for the protection of the public health. The suspension shall be lifted if full compliance with health and sanitary requirements is obtained; if compliance is not obtained by the end of the time allowed, the permit shall then be revoked.

(Ord. 1463 § 3, 1965: Ord. 692 § 2 (part), 1954)

(a) APPLICATION. All applications for permits shall be on forms supplied by the health department and shall be accompanied by those fees established by the board of supervisors by resolution.

(b) RENEWAL. The fee for renewal of the permit shall be the same as the annual fee.

(c) DELINQUENCY. In the event that an application for renewal is not made within one calendar month from the date of expiration, a delinquency charge of twenty percent of the fee shall be assessed. For every calendar month of delinquency, an additional twenty percent of the fee shall be assessed.

(Ord. 3248 § 3, 1997; Ord. 2370 § 1, 1978: Ord. 1754 § 1, 1970: Ord. 1463 § 4, 1965)

No permit shall be issued by the health department unless the site for the proposed garbage, rubbish or refuse dump has been first approved by the board of supervisors after recommendation by the planning commission. In authorizing the issuance of such a permit, the permittee may be required to construct a suitable fence to enclose the site of the proposed garbage, rubbish or refuse dump.

(Ord. 692 § 2 (part), 1954)

No person shall dump, bury, deposit, or otherwise dispose of any garbage, rubbish or refuse except at an authorized garbage, rubbish or refuse dump for which a permit has been obtained as required by Section 7.04.020. This section shall not apply to brickbats, cement, plaster, stones, gravel and other similar building materials commonly disposed of at building sites; provided, however, that this chapter shall not apply to the accumulation by any person upon his own property of garden, tree, shrub and lawn trimmings for garden compost purposes, nor to the disposal by proper burying or burning of garbage by a householder or tenant on his property so long as this disposal practice does not create a public health problem or create a public or private nuisance.

(Ord. 692 § 3, 1954)

All garbage, rubbish or refuse dumps shall be operated in accordance with the following standards:

(a) All garbage and refuse, except the working area, shall be covered with not less than two feet of compact dirt fill. The working area shall be covered with six inches of earth within twenty-four hours after the garbage or refuse reaches the dump. The faces of the dumps shall be covered with six inches of dirt fill whenever dumping operations at that point are suspended for a period of twenty-four hours or more. Nothing contained herein shall bar the health department from prescribing longer hours of uncovered storage where only intermittent operation is available and where the population served is less than one thousand five hundred;

(b) No scavenging shall be allowed at garbage, rubbish or refuse dumps; provided that this does not prevent the separation of garbage and rubbish with the consequent reclamation of the selected rubbish;

(c) Routine rat and fly control measures shall be undertaken at all garbage, rubbish and refuse dumps, as prescribed by the health department;

(d) The burning of tree, shrub and lawn trimmings, and other rubbish may be done only upon written permit from the fire department. No burning shall be permitted at garbage dumps; provided, however, that garbage, rubbish or refuse dumps may exist adjacently and separate rules shall govern each particular site;

(e) Sufficient water supply, as determined by the fire department, shall be available to all dumps so that any spontaneous fires can be controlled and so that burning which tends to become objectionable because of smoke nuisance may be extinguished;

(f) Except as otherwise provided herein, no hog feeding, chicken raising or other commercial enterprise shall be permitted on any garbage, refuse or rubbish dumps.

(Ord. 692 § 4, 1954)

A. SPECIFICATIONS. Every person, firm or corporation in Marin County that maintains a garbage dump is hereby required to enclose the land upon which such dump is situated with a tight board fence at least ten feet high; the boards on the outside to be surfaced and to be painted a dark olive green, and to be free from advertising matter.

B. PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS. Any person violating the terms of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding fifty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(Ord. 168 §§ 1, 2, 1914)

The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all garbage, rubbish or refuse dumps within Marin County, whether the same shall have been established prior to or subsequent to the enactment of this chapter.

(Ord. 692 § 5, 1954)

The board of supervisors and its authorized agents and employees, may at any time inspect any garbage, rubbish or refuse dumps for the purpose of ascertaining whether such garbage, rubbish or refuse dumps comply with the requirements of this chapter. All vehicles subject to this chapter shall be inspected by the health department at least twice in each calendar year.

(Ord. 692 § 6, 1954: Ord. 1463 § 5, 1965)

No person shall transport or cause garbage to be brought into Marin County.

(Ord. 692 § 7, 1954)

Any vehicle used by any person for the transportation of garbage upon the public streets, roads and highways of the county of Marin shall be first inspected and approved by the Marin County Health department. The contents of any such vehicle shall be thoroughly and securely covered by canvas or other suitable covering in order to keep the contents of such vehicle securely contained therein and to prevent the contents from spilling upon the public sweets, roads and highways; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall prohibit a person from transporting the garbage from his own residence to a proper place of disposal so long as no nuisance is created thereby.

(Ord. 1463 § 6, 1965: Ord. 692 § 8, 1954)

No person shall place, deposit or dump, or cause to be placed, deposited or dumped, any garbage, rubbish or refuse upon any public or private highway or road, including any portion of the right-of-way thereof, or any private property without the consent of the owner, or in or upon any public park or other public property. The county of Marin shall pay the sum of fifty dollars as a reward to any person giving information leading directly to the arrest and conviction of any other person violating the terms of this section. The road commissioner of the county of Marin is hereby authorized to erect signs offering such reward at suitable locations along the public roads and highways of the county of Marin.

(Ord. 692 § 9, 1954)

Any person who violates the provisions of this chapter, except where other penalties are specified, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed six months, or a fine not to exceed the sum of five hundred dollars, or by both such imprisonment and fine.

(Ord. 692 § 12, 1954)