Dumpster Permits in Delano: The Rules

Driveway vs street

Driveway: Private driveway / on-site placement: no encroachment permit is required - Delano MC Chapter 12.16 regulates only "temporary occupancy of public property," and nothing in Title 12 or Chapter 13.48 regulates a container placed wholly on the customer's own driveway or lot. Standard practice still applies: get the property owner's permission, use plywood or boards under the wheels and rails to protect asphalt/concrete, and keep the load level and covered. Two code limits do reach onto private property: MC 13.48.030 makes it unlawful for an owner or occupant "to allow or permit to collect or remain upon such lot, building, real property, or premises any refuse ... in such a manner or quantity so that it is a fire hazard, a health hazard or is otherwise unsightly" (so an overflowing or long-abandoned box on a driveway is a code violation), and MC 13.48.040(A) makes it unlawful "to dump, or permit to be dumped, any refuse in any place within the city." Right-of-way placement limits (MC 12.16.040-12.16.060): posting the bond "shall carry the right to temporary occupation of not more than one-third the width of the street and not more than one-half the width of the sidewalk; but no material or appliance of any kind shall be deposited in any manner so as to obstruct the free flow of water down any gutter." The permittee must "take sufficient precautions to protect the public from any harm ... by the proper use of barricades and lights," and "barricades must be placed at every point of danger and lights maintained at each end and side and in no case less than twenty-five feet apart, during the hours between dusk and sunrise" (MC 12.16.060). MC 12.16.080 makes it unlawful for anyone other than the permit holder, their employee, or a city employee to move or interfere with those barricades. Hauling to and from the site is also subject to MC 12.24.040 (shifting or spillable loads), and Kern County charges double the gate fee on untarped/unsecured loads.

Street / right-of-way: Yes, for any placement in the public right-of-way (street, parking lane, sidewalk, alley). Delano MC 12.16.030 requires that "Any person, firm, association, partnership or corporation who desires temporary occupancy of public property for the purpose of storing or depositing materials or appliances of any kind shall post a cash bond with the city plus one dollar inspection fee, subject to the approval of the city engineer." The City administers this as an engineering encroachment permit - the City's Online Permit System page states "The City of Delano uses SmartGov for engineering related permit applications such as encroachment permits and grading permits." Separately, MC 12.16.010 makes it unlawful to place on any public sidewalk "brick, lumber or anything which will prevent the free use of the entire sidewalk by pedestrians," so a box may not block a sidewalk. No permit is required when the container sits entirely on private property.

Office: City of Delano Engineering Division, 1015 11th Ave, 2nd Floor, Delano, CA 93215 - phone (661) 721-3380, fax (661) 721-2135, Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Applications are submitted online through the City of Delano Public Portal (SmartGov) at https://ci-delano-ca.smartgovcommunity.com/public/home. City Hall main line: (661) 721-3303. Business licenses (required to operate as a hauler in the city) are handled by Finance/Business Licensing at (661) 721-3310 ext. 2203.
Fee: The only fee amounts published in the code are the codified 1946 figures in Delano MC 12.16.030 (Ord. 224 §7): a $1.00 inspection fee, plus a cash bond of $25.00 for every 25 lineal feet of frontage or fraction thereof, held as a guarantee that the permittee removes all debris and repairs any damage to public property (MC 12.16.070 allows the city to draw on that deposit if conditions are not met). Delano does NOT publish a current encroachment-permit fee schedule online - the Engineering Documents page lists only impact-fee schedules, atlases and plans, and the actual permit fee is quoted through the SmartGov portal. Do not state a current dollar figure without confirming it: call Engineering at (661) 721-3380. Separately, a City of Delano business license is required to operate; the base amount is gross-receipts-based (calculated via the City's business license gross amount calculator) and every license and renewal carries a state-mandated SB 1186 fee of $4.00 that cannot be waived.

Where debris legally goes

Local rules worth knowing

• ROLL-OFF IS CARVED OUT OF THE EXCLUSIVE FRANCHISE. City of Delano Agreement No. 2023-22 (Municipal Solid Waste Franchise Agreement with South Tulare-Richgrove Refuse, Inc.) grants STRR an exclusive residential/commercial MSW franchise under Public Resources Code section 40059, but Section 3.C 'Exceptions to Exclusivity' states: 'The foregoing Grant of Franchise excludes the following: ... (4) Roll-Off Service. The provision of roll-off collection service, including waste compactors that are delivered by means of a roll-off truck.' Temporary debris-box/roll-off rental is therefore outside the franchise. STRR pays the City a franchise fee of 10% of gross receipts on the services that ARE inside the franchise.
• HAULER LICENSING IS REQUIRED. Delano MC 13.48.180(A): 'The collection, removal and disposal of all refuse shall be performed exclusively by the city or by the contract agent or agents; provided, that the following persons shall be exempt from the provisions of this section: 1. Any employee of the city ...; 2. A person engaged in the business of gardening or landscaping ...; 3. Any person licensed by the city to remove and dispose of specific refuse.' A third-party roll-off operator works under exemption (3) - get the city license/authorization in writing before operating.
• MC 13.48.210: 'It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of owning, operating or maintaining a waste hauling operation, organic waste processing facility, recycling station within the city unless such person complies with the provisions of this section and other applicable laws and regulations of the city and the state.' Subsection (C)(3) requires haulers to obtain approval from the city to haul organic waste 'unless it is transporting source separated organic waste to a community composting site or lawfully transporting C&D in a manner that complies with 14 CCR Section 18989.1, and Delano's Municipal Code pertaining to construction and demolition debris (Chapter 13.52)' - an explicit C&D carve-out from the organics approval requirement.
• C&D COLLECTION IS REGULATED, NOT PROHIBITED - WITH QUARTERLY REPORTING. MC 13.48.220 applies to any person 'engage[d] in the business of owning, operating or maintaining any commercial facility which has as a purpose engaging in any business which collects construction rubbish within the city,' and requires that 'once each quarter, on a day to be designated by the city,' the business report to the city manager or designee the tonnage of construction rubbish collected within city limits, broken out by disposition: (1) deposited in any landfill, (2) buried elsewhere or incinerated, (3) delivered to a location intending to recycle it (concrete plant, asphalt plant, direct reuse). Keep weight tickets by category.
• C&D DIVERSION ORDINANCE - DELANO MC CHAPTER 13.52. Diversion requirement (13.52.030): 'at least fifty percent of waste tonnage from construction, demolition, and renovation waste shall be diverted from disposal in landfills or similar facilities.' Thresholds (13.52.050): ALL construction and renovation projects 200 square feet or greater, and ALL demolition projects 75 square feet or greater, are 'covered projects' and must submit a Waste Management Plan BEFORE beginning any construction or demolition activity. Reporting (13.52.090): documentation proving compliance is due within 10 working days after the demolition phase and within 30 working days after the construction phase, and is 'a condition precedent to final inspection and to issuance of any certificate of occupancy or final approval of project.' Where a project has both phases, the demolition report must be approved before a building permit issues for the construction phase. On-site practices (13.52.080) require separate tracking of construction vs. demolition tonnage and on-site source separation of salvageable materials, dimensional lumber, wallboard, concrete and corrugated cardboard where that increases diversion. Penalties (13.52.100): infraction, fine up to the amount of the council-set deposit, plus civil/injunctive enforcement with attorney's fees. The WMP compliance official is the city manager or designee. An infeasibility exemption may be requested with the WMP (13.52.040).
• BULK PICKUP IS CAPPED AND EXCLUDES C&D. Under the STRR franchise, 'Grantee shall provide Bulky Item Collection services, for a fee, up to three (3) times per year, on an "on-call" basis, to customers requesting this service, at the per item Rates set forth on Exhibit D.' The agreement's definition of Bulky Waste expressly states: 'Bulky Waste does not include construction and demolition waste, or large items such as car bodies, tires, Jacuzzi tubs or spas, or other items that cannot be handled by two persons,' and excludes Excluded Waste and Electronic Waste. Remodel debris, roofing, drywall, concrete and flooring therefore cannot go out as a bulky-item pickup - a roll-off is the compliant route. Delano MC 13.48.120 adds that fees for 'special collection of nonconforming refuse' are set by the city manager and include gate fees, labor, equipment, materials, incidentals and administrative costs.
• MANDATORY CITY SERVICE STILL APPLIES. MC 13.48.060(A): 'Every person or legal entity owning or occupying a developed parcel shall subscribe to the garbage collection service and recycling program service from the city, whether the owner or occupant uses the services or not.' Renting a roll-off does not suspend or replace the customer's monthly city refuse account, and charges appear on the city water bill (13.48.140). Nonresidential customers are also charged a per-cubic-yard bin disposal fee derived from the county per-ton gate fee (13.48.130).
• SELF-HAUL DOES NOT COVER HIRED HAULERS. Franchise Agreement 2023-22, Section 3.C(1) defines the self-haul exception as waste 'removed and personally transported from any premises by the owner or occupant who generated the Solid Waste using his or her own equipment,' and adds: 'The use by the generator of a subcontractor is not "self-haul" within the meaning of this exception.' Section 3.C(10) separately excludes C&D debris collected by 'a contractor, handyman, repairman, or other similar service provider, using its own equipment, as an incidental part of the services provided to its customers, rather than as a hauling service, provided that such waste is not Collected or transported by a third party hired for the primary purpose of Collecting and transporting said materials.' A dedicated roll-off company relies on the Section 3.C(4) roll-off carve-out plus the MC 13.48.180(A)(3) city license - not on self-haul.
• DUMPING AND BURNING BANS. MC 13.48.040: (A) 'It shall be unlawful for any person to dump, or permit to be dumped, any refuse in any place within the city.' (B) burial of refuse other than green waste is unlawful. (C) open burning of refuse is unlawful except permitted burns in agriculturally zoned areas with a permit from the fire chief. MC 13.48.030 prohibits letting refuse accumulate on a lot or premises as a fire hazard, health hazard, or 'otherwise unsightly.'
• STREET OBSTRUCTION LIMITS. MC 12.16.040 caps right-of-way occupancy at not more than one-third the width of the street and not more than one-half the width of the sidewalk, and prohibits obstructing gutter flow. MC 12.16.050-12.16.060 require barricades at every point of danger with lights at each end and side, spaced no more than 25 feet apart, from dusk to sunrise. MC 12.16.010 makes sidewalk obstruction unlawful; MC 12.16.020 makes violation a misdemeanor. MC 12.16.070 lets the city apply the posted cash deposit to cure any unmet permit condition.
• SB 1383 / KERN COUNTY DISPOSAL RULES. Non-residential green waste delivered to Kern County Public Works facilities cannot be landfilled and must be handled as recycling; commercial self-haulers must keep documentation showing organics went to a recycling facility, and non-compliance draws administrative fines. All material arriving at a county facility must be separated on arrival or separated during unloading. Untarped or unsecured loads are charged double the gate fee or a $20 minimum. Delano MC 13.48.050(B)-(D) mirrors this: self-haulers must source separate recyclables and organics and, if a commercial business, keep delivery receipts and weight tickets subject to city inspection.
• BUSINESS LICENSE. A City of Delano business license is required to operate in the city (Finance/Business Licensing, (661) 721-3310 ext. 2203). The base amount is gross-receipts-based via the City's business license calculator; every license and renewal also carries a non-waivable state-mandated SB 1186 fee of $4.00. AB 1607 gender-based-pricing notices are issued with each license.
• Service-area note: NAP stays Porterville, CA; verified service anchor is Delano, CA (Kern County), ~30 mi south of Porterville on Hwy 65. PORTERVILLE WAS CHECKED FIRST AND IS NOT OPEN: Porterville City Code 13-5 makes city disposal service mandatory for every property owner; 13-6 makes it "unlawful for any person to engage in or carry on the business of hauling or removing garbage, refuse or waste matter within the city without written permission from city manager" (discretionary, no published application process); and 13-12(B) shows the City itself delivers, empties, removes and relocates "temporary or permanent roll off containers" at council-set rates - i.e., the City is the roll-off provider and a direct competitor. Porterville = restricted, so the anchor was moved. Visalia and Hanford were excluded as sibling-owned. Tulare was also rejected (Tulare MC 7.16.030 compulsory city service plus the City's own on-call 10/30/40-yard roll-off program). Delano was selected because the exclusion is documented in writing and the carve-out is explicit: City of Delano Agreement No. 2023-22 (Municipal Solid Waste Franchise Agreement with South Tulare-Richgrove Refuse, Inc.) grants STRR an exclusive residential/commercial franchise BUT Section 3.C "Exceptions to Exclusivity" states the grant "excludes the following: ... (4) Roll-Off Service. The provision of roll-off collection service, including waste compactors that are delivered by means of a roll-off truck." Temporary roll-off/debris-box rental is therefore outside the exclusive franchise. It is classified "license-required" rather than fully open, honestly, because DMC 13.48.180(A) still says "The collection, removal and disposal of all refuse shall be performed exclusively by the city or by the contract agent or agents" with an express exemption at (A)(3) for "Any person licensed by the city to remove and dispose of specific refuse," and DMC 13.48.210 makes it "unlawful for any person to engage in the business of owning, operating or maintaining a waste hauling operation ... within the city unless such person complies with the provisions of this section and other applicable laws and regulations of the city and the state." So the pathway is: obtain the city license/authorization under 13.48.180(A)(3) plus a Delano business license, then operate roll-offs lawfully under the franchise carve-out. DMC 13.48.210(C)(3) further exempts a hauler "lawfully transporting C&D in a manner that complies with 14 CCR Section 18989.1, and Delano's Municipal Code pertaining to construction and demolition debris (Chapter 13.52)" from the organics hauling approval, and DMC 13.48.220 regulates (rather than prohibits) third-party businesses that "collect construction rubbish within the city," requiring quarterly tonnage reporting. Caution to note on the site: the franchise's self-haul exception expressly says "The use by the generator of a subcontractor is not 'self-haul' within the meaning of this exception," so a customer cannot use a hired hauler as a self-haul workaround - the hauler itself must hold city authorization.

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Last updated August 2026 · local rules and rates checked for Delano and nearby cities.