20.970.030 Amount of Storage Required.
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A. Storage area criteria. The amount of solid waste and recyclable storage area required is based on the predominant use(s) of the building, i.e., residential, office, retail, educational/institutional, commercial/industrial or other. If a building has more than one of the uses listed in this section, and that use occupies 20 percent or less of the gross floor area of the building, the floor area occupied by that use shall be counted toward the floor area of the predominant use(s). If a building has more than one of the uses listed in this section, and that use occupies more than 20 percent of the gross floor area of the building, then the storage area requirement for the whole building shall be the sum of the requirement for the area of each use.
B. For multiple uses. Storage areas for multiple uses on a single site may be combined and shared.
C. Storage standards. Storage shall be provided consistent with the following:
1. Multi-unit residential buildings containing five or more units shall provide a minimum storage area using this formula:
Number of units × 32 gallons = Total weekly storage volume for garbage
Number of units × 48 gallons = Total weekly storage volume for recycling
Number of units × 8 gallons = Total weekly storage volume for glass
Depending on the number of units, the total volume needed for each stream of waste can be calculated and the number and size of carts or containers determined. Mixed recycling is collected in 95-gallon recycling carts. Glass is collected in 64-gallon carts. Each storage area must provide for collection of both garbage and recycling with space to walk between the containers.
Mixed recycling or cardboard containers and cages, with a standard size of three or four cubic yards (606 gallons), can be planned for accommodating a portion of the required recycling storage for these commodities.
For recycling, determine the number of mixed carts needed by dividing total weekly storage requirements by 95; determine the number of glass recycling carts needed by dividing total weekly storage requirements by 64.
Complexes with less than 20 units are encouraged to include space for a recycling container large enough to accommodate flattened cardboard boxes (typically a three-yard or four-yard container). Complexes larger than 20 units are required to include space for a three- or four-yard recycling container large enough to accommodate flattened cardboard boxes.
Large apartment complexes sometimes utilize a centralized garbage compactor(s) instead of or in coordination with more distributed garbage containers. Compactors are intended for commercial and industrial use by trained personnel and should not be the container that residents use directly for disposal of their household garbage.
Property owners/managers must still provide convenient recycling locations accessible to residents.
Recycling roll carts are normally co-located with the garbage collection containers, rather than with the compactor, to improve recycling convenience and participation. Containers larger than four cubic yards do not have wheels, so it is necessary to allow sufficient space so they can be emptied without being rolled out. No solid waste or recyclables collecting shall be done in any residential zone before 6:30 a.m. or after 6:30 p.m. (VMC 6.12.130).
Maximum distance from residential unit to closest garbage/recycling enclosure shall be no more than 150 feet.
2. Nonresidential buildings shall provide a minimum storage area of 100 square feet plus:
a. Office: four square feet per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area (GFA);
b. Retail: 10 square feet per 1,000 square feet of GFA;
c. Educational/institutional: four square feet per 1,000 square feet of GFA; or
d. Other: four square feet per 1,000 square feet of GFA.
3. Large developments or single buildings utilizing a compactor for garbage shall plan for the size of concrete pad appropriate for the equipment being installed and the volume of waste and recycling to be generated, plus allocate additional space for containers for materials not compacted.
4. Storage area space size and area configuration needs shall be determined based on an assessment of how similar facilities meet their waste disposal and recycling needs.
5. Service agreements between the building owner and the service provider may be required if proposed methods or technologies used to manage waste are atypical or unproven. (Ord. M-4402 § 3(DD), 2023; Ord. M-4147 § 4, 2015; Ord. M-3643, 2004)