I'm planning to share this article with my neighbors because we've been facing a persistent issue with our community dumpster.
Per city regulations, our small neighborhood isn't allowed to have individual curbside trash pickup. Instead, all 18 homes are required to share a single dumpster.
Unfortunately, we’ve discovered that non-residents have been using the dumpster as well. It’s often completely filled in less than 48 hours after being emptied.
I’ve personally confronted and successfully deterred several non-residents from using it, but I obviously can’t be out there all the time. More recently, we’ve noticed that people are coming into the community late at night or early in the morning to dump their trash.
I spoke with the director of our town’s Environmental Services board, and he said his code enforcement team would be happy to issue citations—but only if we can provide video evidence. That would require our HOA to install cameras to monitor the dumpster.
This is a brand-new community, and the HOA is still under builder control. However, another neighbor and I have started working on a plan to address the issue once the HOA transitions to homeowner management.
Personally, I'm thankful that this is only a temporary residence for me while I build my forever home. But this experience has made it clear: I will never again live in an HOA or in a place that relies on a shared dumpster.
Even without the issue of non-residents, I've learned that some households produce significantly more trash than others. My six-year-old son and I generate exactly one bag of trash per week. The neighbors next to me produce about one bag per day.
Given this imbalance, I hope the future HOA board considers a fairer system—perhaps one where trash-related costs are based on actual usage, rather than being split equally among all 18 homes.
Per city regulations, our small neighborhood isn't allowed to have individual curbside trash pickup. Instead, all 18 homes are required to share a single dumpster.
Unfortunately, we’ve discovered that non-residents have been using the dumpster as well. It’s often completely filled in less than 48 hours after being emptied.
I’ve personally confronted and successfully deterred several non-residents from using it, but I obviously can’t be out there all the time. More recently, we’ve noticed that people are coming into the community late at night or early in the morning to dump their trash.
I spoke with the director of our town’s Environmental Services board, and he said his code enforcement team would be happy to issue citations—but only if we can provide video evidence. That would require our HOA to install cameras to monitor the dumpster.
This is a brand-new community, and the HOA is still under builder control. However, another neighbor and I have started working on a plan to address the issue once the HOA transitions to homeowner management.
Personally, I'm thankful that this is only a temporary residence for me while I build my forever home. But this experience has made it clear: I will never again live in an HOA or in a place that relies on a shared dumpster.
Even without the issue of non-residents, I've learned that some households produce significantly more trash than others. My six-year-old son and I generate exactly one bag of trash per week. The neighbors next to me produce about one bag per day.
Given this imbalance, I hope the future HOA board considers a fairer system—perhaps one where trash-related costs are based on actual usage, rather than being split equally among all 18 homes.