Code Compliance: Dispose Of Tires Responsibly

Thursday, February 2nd, 2023

The City of Dalton's code compliance function was moved from the Dalton Police Department to Dalton City Hall's Administration in 2022. Code compliance inspectors are working to improve the City of Dalton's "curb appeal" by making our neighborhoods not only cleaner and more appealing, but also more safe through compliance with the city's municipal codes. From time to time, we will be highlighting different code violations that are common in the community as well as how to get back in compliance. Together, we can keep working to make Dalton the best place to live, work, and play in Georgia.

Local city codes and the International Property and Maintenance Codes alike have some rules that are mostly about making things look good - but a lot of those rules are more about public safety or health than aesthetics. One prime example is the prohibition on keeping tires on your property. Having a stack of old tires in your yard doesn't look great, but it's also a breeding ground for mosquitos and other pests that can spread disease.

It's against the law to store tires on residential property. It's also against city rules to leave tires at the curb for Public Works to collect. Tires must be taken to the landfill or one of the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority's convenience centers around the county. 

Caption: Illegally dumped tires are seen in a pile of other rubbish left on the side of one of Dalton's city streets. The code compliance office works with the Dalton Police Department to investigate illegal dumping and prosecute offenders.

"Tires fill with rainwater, and then as the weather gets warmer we have to worry about mosquitos breeding," said Dan Lewallen, one of the city's code compliance inspectors. "It’s not just that the city won’t pick them up (with the garbage). A lot of people don’t realize that they can’t just maintain tires on their property... you can't just have a stack of tires sitting there."

Lewallen says that the state has strict rules that businesses like tire retailers or car dealerships have to follow when storing tires. But the law is clear that they can't be stored on residential property at all. 

"We consider it as rubbish, and we cite it as rubbish," Lewallen said. 

City code compliance inspectors frequently see residents either leaving tires out for Public Works to collect, but by policy the trash and rubbish collection drivers aren't allowed to pick them up so they'll be left on the curb. Residents must haul tires themselves to the county landfill on Old Dixie Highway or to one of the three convenience centers around the county. There is a limit on the number of four tires per visit at the convenience centers or ten tires per day at the Old Dixie location, and reasonable fees do apply. For tires up to 22 inches, for example, the fee is $2 per tire. For tractor-trailer tires not on the rim, the fee is $7.50 per tire. 

"They won’t take golf cart tires or lawnmower tires if the rims are still on them. They will take automobile tires if they have the rims on them, but the machine they have is not small enough to take the tire off of the small rims," Lewallen said. 

For complete information on the convenience centers and tire recycling, including complete information on fees, click here. 

Even though the fees to recycle tires are quite reasonable, some people decide to get rid of their tires illegally by dumping them in the woods or on the street. Illegal dumping is a criminal offense, and it is investigated by the code compliance office and also the Dalton Police Department. Anyone with information about locations where illegal dumping is taking place or other information regarding illegal dumping can contact the code compliance office at 706-281-1312.

"We encourage anybody to report any areas where tires or any rubbish or trash is being dumped to let us know and we can follow that up ourselves (as code compliance) or we can follow it up with a criminal case with the police department," Lewallen said. "We’ve got a couple of cases right now that we’re probably end up going through the police department for illegal dumping because it’s a criminal charge, it’s not a civil matter."

Despite the fact that some people do dump tires or other rubbish illegally, Lewallen says most of the cases that the code compliance office encounters are simple matters of people not knowing the rules. Some parts of the city's policies on garbage or rubbish collection changed in the summer of 2020. 

"A lot of people, there’s a transition over a couple of years and I think a lot of people didn’t end up with the full story on what will be picked up and what won’t," he said. "It’s like construction debris – under no circumstances will public works pick up construction debris anymore... and I think a lot of people don’t understand that for pickup of any rubbish they have to call Public Works first [706-278-7077 or the SeeClickFix app] before they leave things out and let them know. The reason for that is so Public Works can tell you what day to put it out. They do one side of the city a week, and if you put it out on the wrong week it could sit out as long as two weeks. We encourage people to call public works and let them schedule when to put it out."

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