Hawthorne City Zoning Code

The trash, recycling and organics storage areas shall be enclosed on three sides with permanent building material and on the fourth side with an access gate. Trash, recycling and organics storage areas must be covered or stored under a structure to prevent stormwater from coming in contact with the containers or the interior of storage area. For residential developments, trash and recycling storage areas must be ADA accessible.

The building material shall be of the same or substantially similar material as the building, if it is constructed as an attached part of a building. The storage area shall be of solid block, brick or masonry construction. In no case shall the building material of the trash storage area have less than one-hour fire resistance capability.

The access gate shall be no less than seven feet wide and shall be along the longest side of the storage area enclosure. The gate shall be constructed of metal or another durable material approved by the building department and shall be constructed in a manner so as to obstruct the view of the trash containers from outside of the area.

Fire sprinklers as approved by the fire department shall be installed where the trash storage area is an attached part of a building. Fire sprinklers are also required when the trash storage area is located closer than five feet from any building or property line that may be built upon. However, fire sprinklers are not required if the trash area is enclosed (including roof but excluding door or opening) in noncombustible-material of at least one-hour fire-resistance construction. The enclosure shall be arranged as required by the fire department.

No trash, recycling or organics bin or storage area shall be located less than 14 feet vertically or 10 feet horizontally from any door or window opening in a residential structure.

No garage, warehouse, parking lot or any other structure or open area required by other provisions of this Code shall be utilized as a trash, recycling and organics storage area except that open space area may be utilized as access to a trash and recycling storage area. A trash, recycling and organics storage area may be located below grade; provided that the storage area does not exceed a maximum of 11 feet below sidewalk grade, the access ramp does not exceed 15%, and the minimum clearance at every point along the path of access is seven feet. These requirements do not apply if the said trash, recycling and organics area is otherwise serviced by freight elevators.

Trash, recycling and organics storage areas shall be located at a distance of not more than 140 feet from the point of trash collection pick-up. The point of pick-up shall be considered to be at the face of the curb abutting the nearest street or at another location approved by the Building Department as a feasible location for truck access. The point of pick-up shall be readily accessible to the trash collection vehicles. Where the point of pick-up is not at a street, there shall be a path or route of access of not less than 15 feet in width and an unobstructed clear height of not less than 14 feet six inches; power lines, tree limbs or any other protrusion, whether owned by the property owner or not, shall be considered a height obstruction. In commercial or industrial areas where a drop bin is planned to be used for trash, recycling and organics storage, there shall be a clear unobstructed access to a height of 20 feet above the drop bin. The surface of any access route other than a street shall be paved. Where trash and recycling bins are required by the planning department, a paved surface of not less than five feet in width shall be provided from the trash and recycling bin to the point of pick-up. All such pavement shall conform to the pavement requirements of this Code in those provisions regarding parking lot pavement. The trash, recycling and organics storage area shall be readily accessible to the collection vehicle at all times.

The size of the trash, recycling and organics storage area shall be determined as follows to accommodate the storage of at least three containers, one each for trash, recycling and organics:

The trash, recycling and organics storage area shall be maintained in a good state of repair at all times.

All trash, recycling and organics containers shall be stored in the designated storage area. No one shall store trash, rubbish or containers for trash, recycling or organics in any building, open area or any other area outside the designated storage area.