Chapter 17.58
REFUSE DISPOSAL AND RECYCLING
Sections:
17.58.020 Refuse disposal and recycling.
17.58.030 Recycling service—Donation/collection box.
17.58.010 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to provide regulation for the location, design, and screening of refuse and recycling facilities and their enclosures. (Ord. 2015-002 § 3 (Exh. 1)(part), 2015)
17.58.020 Refuse disposal and recycling.
A. Trash Receptacle. Every parcel with a multifamily, commercial, or industrial structure shall have a trash receptacle (i.e., dumpster) on the premises. The trash receptacle shall meet the requirements of the entity with the responsibility for solid waste collection and shall be of sufficient size to accommodate the trash generated.
B. Recycling Facilities. In addition to a trash receptacle, every parcel with a multifamily structure and new commercial and industrial projects shall have an area set aside for recycling bins for paper, glass, and cans. The recycling area shall be adjacent to the trash receptacle and shall be a size at least equal to that occupied by the trash receptacle.
C. Refuse Area. The combined area used for recycling and trash shall be known as the refuse area. The following provisions apply to this area:
1. The refuse area shall be located away from streets and enclosed or screened by landscaping, fencing, or other architectural means.
2. The refuse area shall be enclosed on at least three sides by a solid masonry wall or wood fence six feet in height. An administrative use permit may be obtained for enclosures up to eight feet high to ensure adequate operability and lack of visibility of refuse areas from the public right-of-way.
3. The refuse area shall be enclosed on the fourth side or on any portion of the fourth side by a solid gate at least five feet in height. The gate shall be maintained in good working order and shall remain closed except when in use.
4. The refuse area shall be covered with a rain canopy.
5. The refuse area shall be included in the computation of the percentage of allowed building coverage required for the development.
6. The enclosure and gate of the refuse area shall be designed to be architecturally compatible with nearby structures.
7. The driveways and aisles serving the refuse area shall provide unobstructed access for collection vehicles and personnel.
8. The refuse area shall be located such that the maneuvering of collection vehicles does not disrupt automobile movements.
9. If a parcel includes a grease-generating structure, an area shall be set aside for grease collection.
10. If yard waste service is available, every parcel shall have an area set aside for yard and food waste composting. (Ord. 2020-002 § 24, 2020: Ord. 2015-002 § 3 (Exh. 1)(part), 2015)
17.58.030 Recycling service—Donation/collection box.
A. Purpose. The recycling services—donation/collection boxes are unattended receptacles or containers and require special development standards to help ensure that they do not become a public nuisance.
B. Applicability. Each use classified as a recycling services—donation/collection box in Section 17.70.060 is subject to the provisions of this section and requires an individual use permit. Each property owner who desires to locate such use on his or her property shall apply for or explicitly authorize an application for a use permit under this section.
C. Development Standards. The following provisions apply:
1. Boxes may only be used to collect donated clothing or other salvageable personal property, including but not limited to books, shoes, canned goods, and small household items.
2. Receptacles/containers shall occupy less than fifty square feet, including both permanent and mobile structures.
D. Findings. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this code, the planning commission shall approve a use permit for a donation/collection box where it makes all the following findings:
1. The donation/collection box will be located only on a parcel wholly within a commercial, industrial, public or semi-public district; and
2. The donation/collection box will be located on a parcel where a primary use is in existence (i.e., that the lot is not vacant, and there is an existing structure on the parcel with a currently operational business or other such use); and
3. The donation/collection box will not be located within twenty feet of the public right-of-way or other public property; the precise location for the intended use is adequate in size and shape to accommodate said use and to allow for adequate foot traffic and access by the disabled; and the use will not impede adequate vehicular traffic and will allow for sufficient parking; and
4. The donation/collection box is not located within one thousand feet of another donation or collection box. The distance set forth above shall be measured as a radius from the box that is located, or is to be located, to the corresponding donation/collection box without regard to intervening structures; and
5. No more than one donation/collection box is located on a single parcel; and
6. If the donation/collection box is owned and operated for charitable purposes by a nonprofit entity registered under Section 501(c)(3), evidence has been provided in the form of a determination letter from the IRS and a tax identification number that legitimizes the business as a nonprofit/charitable organization to the satisfaction of the city’s finance director; and
7. The owner of the property has provided written permission for each such donation/collection box.
E. Each use permit issued under this section is subject to the following conditions. The city may institute nonexclusive administrative fine proceedings, use permit revocation or modification proceedings, or any other available remedy upon notice of noncompliance with these conditions or of any public nuisance conditions which can be attributed to the presence of the donation/collection box upon the property.
1. Litter and Graffiti. The donation/collection box, including all signs, accessories and structures, shall be maintained free of litter and graffiti at all times. The property owner and/or operator shall remove all trash, litter and debris within twenty feet of the box on a daily basis. Graffiti shall be removed within forty-eight hours of written notice from the city.
2. Box identification Signage. Each donation/collection box shall be clearly identified with the following:
a. The name of the entity or organization that is maintaining the box, a telephone number, addresses, and, if available, the Internet web address for such entity.
b. A statement, in at least two-inch typeface, that either reads “this collection box is owned and operated by a for-profit organization” or “this collection box is owned and operated by a nonprofit organization.”
i. If the collection box is owned by a nonprofit organization, the front of the collection box shall conspicuously display a statement describing the charitable cause that will benefit from the donations.
ii. If the collection box is owned by a for-profit entity, the front of the collection box shall conspicuously display a statement that reads: “This donation is NOT tax deductible.”
c. The contact information for the city of San Pablo’s police department and code enforcement division.
d. If a nonprofit entity owning a donation/collection box loses its nonprofit status, the signage on the box shall be immediately corrected to accurately reflect its revised status.
3. Other Box Signage. Other than the identification information listed above, no donation/collection box shall have signage on more than three sides of the box. Signage may be permanently painted, drawn, embedded or affixed with a film adhesive on the box. No box shall have any signage attached or affixed in any other manner. No signage shall be larger than one-half of the surface area of the side in which it is painted, drawn, embedded or affixed with a film adhesive.
4. Security. Based on testimony or reports from the police department, the planning commission may require the donation/collection box owner to provide specified and adequate security personnel and/or devices, where the police department can demonstrate that complaints or crime statistics in the general area show a reasonable basis that preventive security measures are needed to preserve the public health, safety and welfare.
F. Exemptions and Additional Requirements. The following collection boxes are not regulated by provisions within this section:
1. Temporary or seasonal donation/collection boxes of a size less than ten square feet, placed on property with the written consent of the property owner, so long as such temporary or seasonal donation/collection boxes are not on the property for more than sixty days per year.
2. Recycling services which fall under the categories of “Recycling Services—Consumer” and “Recycling Services—General” as defined in Division VI, Glossary.
Any receptacles/containers that are over fifty square feet are considered to fall within the “Recycling Services, Consumer” or “Recycling Services, General” use classifications and are limited accordingly. (Ord. 2015-002 § 3 (Exh. 1)(part), 2015)