Ask The Mayor: Is it Legal? Putting Garbage Can Anywhere?

File Image Courtesy County of Maui.

The mayor answers questions from the public in this series.

By Mayor Alan Arakawa

Q: My neighbor says she can put her automated trash cart anywhere she wants, and often puts it on my property near the road if I haven’t already put mine out. She also puts it out across the street in front of other people’s houses because the truck passes by on that side first, so she brings the cart back and fills it up again!

She has two rentals plus her residence, so one cart really isn’t enough for her place, but the county only allows one cart per address. Is it true my neighbor can put her cart anywhere she wants, or only in front of her own house? I’m so frustrated by this.

A: No, according to the Maui County Code §15-108-12, “The lateral location for each owner’s refuse shall be limited to the street frontage abutting the owner’s property or where approved by the director.”

The drivers do their best to identify when someone might be abusing the system, but it would be difficult in this case without the driver reading each cart’s serial number and matching it to the address. If our Solid Waste Division did receive a complaint from a resident, they could send someone to the area with the addresses and corresponding cart numbers to verify that the right carts are in front of their property. If a cart is not in front of the correct property, then the driver could tag the cart, reminding the person of the appropriate location.

With regard to the number of carts allowed, Maui County Code §8-04-030, subsection C states that “Owners may pay for one refuse collection unit, per legally permitted dwelling unit.” Maui County Code §8-04-010 defines a dwelling unit as “a room or group of rooms connected together constituting an independent housekeeping unit for a family and containing a single kitchen.” So if a property owner has a separate ʻohana unit, they may pay for a second collection unit.

Want to Ask the Mayor?

Submit your questions about County of Maui programs, services, operations or policies to Mayor Alan Arakawa via email at [email protected], by phone at 270-7855 or by mail to 200 S. High St., 9th Floor, Wailuku, HI 96793. Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the Ask the Mayor column.