Code Enforcement: You Can't Leave Everything At The Curb For Pickup
Thursday, June 5th, 2025
You can't leave just anything at the curbside in Dalton and have it hauled off by the garbage truck. While the Public Works Department does provide curbside garbage, recycling, and bulky item refuse and yard trimming collections for City residents, there are certain items that aren't allowed to be left by the curb - and lately, our sanitation crews have been seeing more and more prohibited items being left for pickup.
"They're seeing a lot of construction materials like 2 x 4s and that kind of thing," said Dan Lewallen, who supervises the City's Code Enforcement Unit. His department has been fielding complaints from the Public Works Department's crews in recent weeks. "We still see tires all the time out on the curb, but construction materials - I know this time of year people are getting out of the house and doing remodeling projects and fixing up the house. But demolition materials, sheet rock, old 2 x 4s and building materials, those aren't allowed to be left out for pickup."
The City's policy for the collection of bulky item refuse is available online by clicking here. In general, the Public Works Department will pick up approximately two cubic yards of refuse every two weeks free of charge. That's about the size of a long-bed pickup truck. In a change to the policy that was made the summer of 2020, residents now must call ahead to the Public Works Department at 706-278-7077 to schedule a collection time before taking items to the curb. Because the department services the north and south halves of the City on alternating weeks, scheduling collections ensures that refuse does not sit on the curb for long periods of time before being collected. Collections can also be scheduled using the See Click Fix app.
Construction or remodeling debris items such as wood boards, broken concrete, bricks, rock, or fixtures such as sinks, toilets, or cabinets cannot be left at the curb for refuse collection. Other prohibited items include cardboard boxes, packing material, paint in liquid form, hazardous materials, or tires.
"I'd say before anybody sets anything out that they have any question about just call Public Works and see if they will pick it up and schedule it," Lewallen said. "They'll pick up things like washers and dryers, furniture items, things like that. But it's always best to call and ask if they'll pick things up and if it needs to be scheduled."
Lewallen points out that the concrete pads that the City used in years past as yard trimming collection sites are no longer in use, and they are not for refuse dumping. The Code Enforcement Unit has received multiple complaints from residents reporting that people have left prohibited items such as tires at these sites.
"They do it because it's anonymous., you can’t track down where it came from," he said. "So that’s the issue there, if it's in front of somebody's house, we can go talk to them and say, 'hey, you just can't put this stuff out,' where if it's one of those piles it's nearly impossible to track down."
Residents that have prohibited refuse items to haul off can contract with private companies to collect those items. They can also haul those items to the Whitfield County Landfill themselves for a tipping fee based on the weight of the items. Tires are also usually accepted at the Landfill, provided that they have storage space.
"It's just a couple of dollars per tire because the Landfill has to pay to have that stuff hauled off," Lewallen said. "They go with tractor trailer loads of tires to recycling facilities."
Even though the Public Works Department's goal is to keep Dalton looking its best, the department's policy is to not pick up prohibited items and instead to leave them at the curb. That's because the excessive size and weight of prohibited items limits the ability of crews to service all City residents in a timely manner. It also costs taxpayers more money in tipping fees at the Landfill.
"When you start getting this excessively heavy debris in there, now your tickets are going up," Lewallen said. "That money has to come from somewhere."
Help us boost Dalton's curb appeal but only leaving what's allowed out at the curbside. Click here to learn more.
